


Who pushed Annie Leonhardt?

by anri



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Annie's in it I guess?, Ghosts, M/M, Shipping's not really that important tbh, Some Humor, Spooky shit happens, ghost story, mostly scary, or hopefully scary, some people get hurt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-12
Updated: 2015-04-09
Packaged: 2018-03-01 04:46:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 19
Words: 49,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2760089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anri/pseuds/anri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A female student was killed after falling from the top floor of Rose Academy, and since that day, her ghost has been seen roaming the school.<br/>People see her, feel her presence, hear her whispering.<br/>They say the haunting will stop if you answer the question she's been asking for almost 80 years:<br/>Who pushed Annie Leonhardt?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. An Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> Whooop! This fanfiction was kind of a spur of the moment thing, and I really wanted to write it whilst all of the ideas were fresh in my mind ^-^  
> I'm aware that the shipping isn't really the main point of this story, but I was really hoping people would be interested anyway, and thank you so much for taking the time to click on this story!  
> I don't have a beta at the minute, and I tried my best, but please PLEASE tell me if there's an error! Also if you would be interested in becoming my beta to save me from embarrassing spelling and grammar errors in the future, please let me know!!  
> Thank you again, and I hope you enjoy!!

It was in Eren’s fifteenth year that he began attending Rose Academy. He was not the most academic in nature, but that was exactly the reason his father brought him to that school, he thought. It was a private school - smaller classes, and more attention from the teachers: everything Eren needed to pass his exams. It was also a boarding school, and starting from that warm September morning where he waved goodbye to his father at the front gates, he wouldn’t be leaving those grounds until the end of December. Rose Academy only included years 10, 11, 12 and 13, with classes running to a maximum of 20 students at most. It was a tiny student body for such an expansive campus. Eren felt somewhat intimidated as he stood at the entrance, one hand on his suitcase, staring up at the main building.

He heard a groan from behind him, and didn’t have time to look for the cause before he felt a sharp shove as a boy brushed passed him. “Hey!” Eren yelled, steadying himself again. The boy stopped. He was a little bit taller than Eren, with a mop of dishwater blonde hair on top, and a freshly cut undercut underneath. He slowly turned to face Eren, a scowl on his face. “What?” he snapped.

“There’s no need to shove people!” Eren retorted, stepping towards him a little bit.

“Then maybe you shouldn’t stand in the middle of the bloody drive,” the boy snarled, turning on his heels and storming away.

Eren was about the stomp after him when he felt a firm hand on his arm. He turned to face his sister, Mikasa. “No,” she said calmly, “your dad’s paying a lot for us to go here, and you are not going to get kicked out of here anytime soon,” she insisted, “not if I can help it.” He bit his lip, turning his head to watch the moody boy push past a few other students to make his way inside. “Whatever,” he pulled the sleeves of his hoodie down over his hands, and with that, he pulled the handle of his suitcase, dragging it reluctantly towards the main building.

They were met by a smiling female student with glasses. A nametag written in a barely legible scribble on the left side of her blazer, and Eren didn’t even attempt to decipher it. “Hey there!” she called, running over to Eren and Mikasa. “I’m Hanji, one of the Upper School leaders here at Rose,” she pulled a couple of leaflets off a foldup table set up nearby, handing them to the two. “That’s your schedule for today. It’s only year 10 and 13 here, the rest of the school will be arriving on Wednesday, which gives you two days to move in! Today will mostly be class introductions, House placements, and setting up in your dormitories. You’ll also be given a tour and your class schedule too, so you’ll know where you’re headed tomorrow. Right now, you’ll be going into an introductory assembly, so if you’d like to come with me to drop off your suitcases to keep them safe for the meantime!” she chirped, turning around so fast Eren narrowly avoided being whipped in the face by her ponytail.

 

It was difficult manoeuvring around all of the students who were also trying to put away their luggage, especially since Hanji insisted on taking the most complicated routes, which included skirting round as many people as humanly possible. Eventually they managed to get their stuff safely tucked away in the storage room, and that’s where Hanji abandoned them to introduce herself to a set of confused looking boys. They filed into the hall, and found two free seats near the edge. Eren ended up sat next to a pale-skinned boy with long blonde hair. Eren smiled at him as he sat down, “Hey,” he greeted shyly,

“Hi,” the boy replied curtly. About eighty students in total should have been arriving that day in total. Not many at all. “You nervous?” Eren asked the boy.

“A little bit, I guess,” he murmured, “you?”

“Eh, not as much I could be,” Eren admitted.

“Wow, I wish I had your courage,” the blonde boy laughed,

“Aha, it’s only because I have my sister with me. I’m sure I’d be a nervous wreck if she weren’t here,” Eren indicated to Mikasa beside him, and the blonde boy politely waved at her. “Yeah, I imagine that makes the whole thing a little bit easier,” he looked into his hands nervously, “I’m Armin, by the way.”

 

It took about ten minutes until the headmaster took his place in the middle of the podium on the stage, and began talking. Eren zoned out pretty quickly – he was talking about how nice it was for all of the new students to be there, and so on, and so on. He wasn’t really interesting in anything like that. “And now I shall hand other to Erwin Smith, our head boy, and the rest of the upper school leaders,” Eren looked up briefly to see a tall blonde boy take the podium. His eyes scanned passed the seven other year 13s sat down in a neat row behind him. He recognised Hanji as she sat between two other boys. “Hello everyone, I’m Erwin, and I’m head boy here at Rose Academy. I am also house leader for Pankhurst House, and I am sure I will be getting to know a good few of you later on if you are to be placed in my house, and I will look forward to getting to know you all,” that was about as much as Eren took in before he zoned out again.

A sharp tug on his sleeve caused him to come back to reality. He blinked, looking up at Mikasa. “They’re passing out the class lists,” she explained as she was handed a wad of paper to hand down the row. Eren scanned his paper up and down, trying to find his name.

He found Mikasa’s first. At the very top of the list for Class S. And underneath hers, “Hey, Armin, you and Mikasa are in the same form,” he muttered, scanning the lists for his name. He found his just a little lower down in the S list. He smiled to himself. At least he had two people he knew somewhat in his new class. That made things a little less daunting.

They began filling out one class at a time. S was the last class to be called, and Eren began looking around at his new classmates. It all seemed fairly silent except for three people in the front row, a girl with a long dark ponytail who was chatting rather excitedly to two boys – a bald boy and another, taller boy whose face was marked quite prominently with a splatter of freckles. Eren scanned the crowd and saw one person he was hoping had already filed out – the dishwater blonde he’d run into earlier. Well, he couldn’t have expected a perfect class, of course something like that was likely to happen. “I guess you guys are with me then,” the voice was sudden, and Eren smiled as he saw Armin jump a little bit out of the corner of his eye. “I’m Dr Shadis, and I will be your form tutor for the next two years here at Rose Academy. Our form room is in English 6, so please, keep quiet and keep up as we make our way there, I don’t want to be losing any first years on the first day if I can help it.”

 

They spent about an hour in form introductions, which mostly consisted of embarrassing games to do with getting to know your peers. All Eren really took note of was Sasha and her fact that she could eat two full sized pizzas on her own before she started feeling sick (he did have to admit, he was a little jealous of her on that one). Everyone else had fairly uninteresting facts – “my name is Bertholdt and I have three house rabbits”, “my name is Jean and I was born in France”, “my name is Ymir and I do women’s wrestling.” It was immediately obvious that everyone was equally uncomfortable with these awkward games, and everyone wanted them to be over as much as the next person. In fact, it seemed to bond them all together in mutual contempt for introductory exercises. Shadis seemed to hate them too, and decided to bring the games to an end ten minutes before the form period ended. “Next you’ll all be shown to your dormitories and your common rooms, right? You’re aware that dorms are split into the four houses and from there boys and girls. The boys and girls are connected to the common rooms, and you’re free to visit another house’s room as long as you have permission from one of the house members beforehand, but of course you must be back in your own common room by eight thirty at the latest. Anyone outside of his or her house’s dormitory without special permission will be punished. Do you all understand?” Everyone nodded slowly. “There are four houses: Fawcett, Pankhurst, Churchill and Nelson. You met the house leaders earlier, and you will be introduced to them again when you join them in your common room, and they will assign you to a room and so on.” He went through the list of the students in each house, telling them what wing of the dorms that was in. The good news: he was not in the asshole Jean’s House, and he was in Sasha’s House, which meant he could ask her more about how one trains themselves to eat so much without getting sick. However, he also wasn’t in either Mikasa’s or Armin’s House. He was in Nelson, his sister was in Pankhurst and Armin was in Fawcett.

He ended up tagging along with Sasha and that Ymir girl as they tried to find Nelson’s dormitory. “It’s on the west side of the school, on the North Wing of Sina dorm,” Ymir mumbled, walking ahead of Sasha and Eren. “C’mon, it’s this way,” she called, “I think, at least.”

Turns out it wasn’t the direction Ymir was headed, and so they ended up turning up at their common room a little later than the other kids. There were about twenty students, and they all fit comfortably into the wooden panelled room. Some of them sat on the sofas, the sofa ends, others sitting on the floor, and some just standing. There were two students in uniform – obviously the year 13s in charge. “Oi,” the boy called as he lent against one of the counters. “Find a place, sit down and shut up.”

Well then.

Eren did what he was told, the boy’s stony eyes scrutinizing him as he did so. “So. Welcome to Nelson House. I am house leader, and my name is Levi, and this is my deputy and to be honest, the one who’s really in charge here, Petra,” he indicated to the ginger girl next to him, who had her bangs neatly clipped back, she smiled, nodding at the other students, “Nice to meet you,” she said politely.

“So, yes, I am Levi, she is Petra, we are in charge. Okay, so as house leaders, we have a few responsibilities. If you’re having difficulties, it’s our problem to try and help you as much as we can, which  means we can support you with your learning, your extracurricular stuff, and yeah, maybe, emotionally. But let’s be honest here, you can all probably tell that if you need to cry, go to Petra, not me,” he pulled his hands off the counter, and stood up straight, not that it honestly made much of a difference to his height. “In Nelson house, we’re pretty lax with behaviour. If you want to swear, go ahead, but please don’t when there’s a member of staff around, because I’m the one who gets told off for that. I really don’t give a shit how you wish to behave, just do not make anyone else uncomfortable or anything, seriously - just have some common decency and you’ll do fine here.” He shoved his hands in his pockets, looking at Petra, trying to confirm if he’d forgotten to mention anything. “Oh yeah, we were told to say a little bit about ourselves so you can y’know, get to know us a bit better or something. I don’t really feel comfortable with saying random shit about me to you guys, and I’m sure you’ll all be happy about that too, but seriously the only thing I will say is we know that me and Petra are nothing like Mike from Churchill, or Erwin from Pankhurst are. We’re not tall, and we realise that. But mention it, and we will punch you in the gut, okay? So any height jokes, and I will lock you out of the dorm after curfew and then blame you for it,” Petra seemed to decide that Levi had said quite enough then, because she hastily took over.

“The school hosts quite a lot of inter-house sporting competitions. They run all throughout the year, and the rankings from that go towards the results on sports day. Nelson House has…a tradition, of being one of the sportier houses. We have a reputation to uphold, and me and Levi are quite competitive people, I’m sorry to say. We will push you to your limits in inter-house, and on sports day, so…be prepared for that. We have inter-house sprinting, hockey, volleyball, football, and rugby. Sprinting and rugby are in the winter term, so we’ll be deciding teams for that quite soon.

“For your dorms, girls rooms are through the left door, boys on the right. Please, please, please, burn that into your memory, I do not want any mix ups happening if we can help it. There are rooms of two or three, so just, go find a room. You can swap around all you want, but do not move beds into other rooms, and do not put more people in a room than how many beds there are. Seriously, if you’re stuck with someone you hate, we can take care of it. That’s all we have to say, welcome to Nelson House, we hope you have a good year. Go find a room, and me and Levi will start bringing your suitcases up here for you to start unpacking. We’ll call you guys when it’s time for lunch.”

 

Eren ended up rooming with a boy called Thomas, who seemed a fairly quiet, polite guy. He didn’t feel like the two of them would become the best of friends, but he also didn’t think they’d end up in any fist fights either. “Hey, I’m gunna go see if they’ve brought down my suitcase yet,” Eren muttered, and Thomas nodded, going back to flipping through the leaflet they were given before.

He trudged into the common room just as Levi came through the door with his suitcase. “Ah, that’s err, mine,” he mumbled. Levi set it down and glared at him. “What the fuck did you pack? Jesus Christ, you nearly broke my back, getting me to haul that shit up the stairs,” he grumbled. “If you use all of that crap you packed, I will spend a night on my own up in the attic,” Eren cocked his head,

“The attic?” he echoed. Levi smirked,

“Everyone! After eight-thirty, I suggest us all gathering in the common room, so you can properly meet all of the other year 13s. And, I think it would be the ideal time for us to tell you some ghost stories.”


	2. A nightmarish tale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi has issues w/the fireplace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who might of been curious as to where the 104th kids were in houses. Fawcett House, which is Hanji & Moblit's house has Bertholdt, Marco and Armin. Pankhurst House, which is Erwin & Nifa's house, has Mikasa, Krista and Reiner. Churchill House is Mike & Nanaba's, and has Jean and Connie, and of course Nelson House is Levi & Petra's, and has Ymir, Sasha and Eren.  
> There's no significance to the houses people are in. I literally made my friend's say numbers between 1-4 when I said a character. I just wanted to have more interesting character interaction, rather than just Eren, Armin and Mikasa, and Jean and Marco and such.

Eren pushed his food around his plate, his head resting in his hand. “Do you not like ghost stories, then?” Armin asked, and Eren sighed, shaking his head. “So why are you so anxious about it?” The brunet pushed his plate away from him, running a hand through his hair.

“I dunno…the house leader just seems to hate me for some reason, and having to spend a whole evening with him is just…daunting, I guess.” Mikasa straightened up a little bit,

“Which house leader is yours?”

Eren spared a glance over his shoulder at the table the house leaders had occupied. No one had even dared to try and sit with them. “The short black haired one between the blonde guy and the ginger girl,” he murmured.

Mikasa raised her eyebrows, “Christ,” she muttered, “he really is short.”

Eren whimpered, and Armin and Mikasa stared at him curiously. “Please don’t say that about him!” he begged, “he said if people call him or Petra short, he’ll kick them out of the dorm!”

Armin couldn’t help but chuckle at that, “Sounds like you have an…interesting pair of house leaders,” Eren shrugged,

“I guess. What are your house leaders like?” he asked. Armin pressed his lips into a firm line, thinking.

“My house leaders are Hanji and Moblit,” he said, “and well, they’re…interesting too, I guess,”

Eren sat up, smiling, “that sounds like it has a story behind it,”

Armin licked his lips, grinning too. “Hanji just stared at us for like, ten minutes. And then Moblit reminded her that she actually needed to say something, and she just said that she was Hanji and she liked science, and then, err, the guy in our form…Bert? I don’t know, but he grumbled at that and I don’t even know _how_ she heard it, because I barely heard him and I was sat right next to him, but she just like screamed at him. Not even yelling words, just one long cry? It was really strange,” Eren was dumbfounded for a moment or two, and just sat there, gaping at the incredible story, before bursting into laughter. Mikasa covered her chuckles with her mouth, although her shaking shoulders gave her away. “What about you, Mika?” Eren questioned, and his sister shrugged,

“Compared to you two, I had fairly ordinary house leaders. I have Erwin and Nifa, and they were pretty normal, I guess. Really competitive, though. They’re already asking for people to sign up for the inter-house sprinting and rugby, so the teams can get together and practise,” she explained, and Eren nodded.

“Levi and Petra said they were really competitive about that too? I’m almost terrified to see what’s going to happen when the competitions roll around,” he leaned back in his chair again. He heard someone cough next to him, and he sat up, startled. Sasha was leaning across the empty chair between her and Eren, “Hey, are you gunna eat that?” she asked, pointing to his leftovers.

 

They ended up wandering back to the dormitory after lunch, Eren still hanging back with Sasha and Ymir. “So…what are you guys thinking of the school so far?” he asked, feeling the need to break the silence.

“I think,” Ymir began, her eyes fixed on a little blonde girl with a ponytail who was walking past, “that this school has some cute girls,” Eren chuckled,

“Ha, I guess,” he mumbled, biting his lip. So, Sasha could inhale food, and Ymir was an aggressive lesbian wrestler. There sure were some interesting people in his house.

Levi and Petra were stood waiting in the common room. “Oh wow, you three are some of the first to arrive, that _is_ a surprise,” Levi mumbled, swinging his legs over the edge of the armchair he’d occupied. Eren bit back a retort, thinking it was best not to irritate his house leaders on his first day. “What are we doing now?”

“Waiting for the others to get back, so we can give you guys a tour of the school,” Levi turned his eyes to look at Eren, “unless, of course, you want to get lost tomorrow.” Eren swallowed,

“Nah, I’m good, thank you.” Levi sighed, tugging on Petra’s jumper. She turned around to look at him, but he continued tugging. She sighed, allowing him to just continue amusing himself. “So, you two dating or something?” Ymir asked. Petra blushed and looked away, and Levi didn’t really change at all.

“No…” Petra answered finally. Ymir shrugged,

“Why not?”

Petra began to open her mouth, but Levi cut her off. “Because she has a boyfriend, and I’m not into girls,” he murmured. Eren gaped, nodding his head, “That err, is a pretty good reason not to be dating, I think,” Levi stared at him out of the corner of his eye, a slightly amused glint showing. “So what are you into, then?” Ymir pressed. Levi sat up, and Eren noticed that his hair had become slightly tangled from where he’d rested on the chair. He quickly shook out the tangles, though. “I think reading is pretty cool. Also rugby is the shit,” he stood up, wandering over to the fireplace. Eren didn’t think it was particularly a good decision to have a fire place in a high school common room, but he figured it was the school’s problem.

 

They split the group into two for the tours, and Eren was stuck in Levi’s group. He ignored the older boy for the most part. Trudging along near the back of the group, studying the map they’d been given intently, trying to memorise paths through the school. He didn’t notice when the group had taken a turn where he hadn’t, only when he looked up did he realise he was alone. He looked both ways, before dropping his hands to his side. “Fuck,” he murmured, jogging to the end of the corridor to see if by any chance if he could still see the group. Nope. The school was empty, everywhere he looked.

And then he felt a cold spell, shivering down his back. He breathed out, looking around again. He felt something…that feeling of being over aware of everything you did. His stomach felt tight, and he had to force himself to breathe regularly. His entire body felt cased in some sort of pressure. It felt like someone was watching him. But he was sure that there was nobody there. He turned around, facing the corridor. No one. He could feel something, he was absolutely sure of it. Something was down there. Watching him. He turned around again and came face to face with cold grey eyes.

Eren screamed. Actually _screamed_. And he seemed to freak Levi out too, because the older boy stepped back a bit, his mouth open. “Fuck, okay then,” he murmured, “don’t scare this brat. I’ll remember that one,” Eren breathed out, creasing his brows together.

“My name is Eren,” he breathed, and Levi nodded.

“Don’t scare Eren,” he corrected himself. It was quiet between the two of them as Levi put his hands in his pockets, staring at Eren. “You alright?” he murmured. Eren pressed his lips in a firm line, glancing over his shoulder at the end of the corridor again. “Yeah, I guess,” he replied, turning back to Levi. He didn’t seem convinced. He raised his eyebrows, but let it slide, turning around. “I left the group upstairs looking at the science labs when I went to come find you, and I don’t entire trust them in there,” Eren smiled, and silently followed Levi back up the stairs. “That hallway doesn’t really go anywhere, by the way. It just goes to the storerooms and the attic,” he explained as they went.

 

The rest of the day was a blur of textbooks, folders and schedules, and it didn’t feel like long at all before Eren was back in the common room after dinner. He sat in one of the chairs beside the chimney breast, although he wasn’t really doing anything – he was just staring at the fireplace, really. “What’re you doing?” he heard from next to him. He turned to see Levi sitting in the chair beside him, his eyes still on the pages of his book. “You’re staring at that thing like it killed your mother,” he commented further, and Eren shrugged.

“Why isn’t it lit?” he questioned, and Levi shook his head slightly.

“Why do you think they don’t allow fourteen to eighteen year olds near an open flame without adult supervision?” he asked, looking up from his book. Petra looked up from her conversation with a few other students. “No, Levi, we _used_ to be able to have the gas fire on, but you had your accident, and now we can’t,” she murmured, and Eren could of sworn he could see Levi pale. Just a little bit.

“Petra, I’ve been telling you for _four years_ – it wasn’t my fault,” She laughed again, and Levi sighed, shaking his head. His eyes scanned over his book, and Eren went back to staring at the empty fireplace. Levi looked up again, before replacing his bookmark and shutting his book. “Seriously, you’ve had that expression on your face since you got lost. What is it?” he pressed, shifting his position in the chair. Eren shook his head, shrugging slightly. “Nothing,” he murmured, and Levi smirked.

“God, you’re like my little sister when she’s moody. ‘Nothing’, my ass. Now what’s up?”

Eren lifted his eyes, resting them now on Levi. He looked tiny in that armchair. Eren chuckled, running a hand through his hair. “I just got freaked out when I got lost as all. It was probably just you, now that I think about it, but I felt someone’s eyes on my back. I was certain of it,” Levi stopped smirking.

“In the hallway between the science block and the storage rooms?”

“Yeah,”

Levi looked across at the fireplace for a split second, before standing up. “Everyone! It’s suitably dark outside, isn’t it? Let’s get to telling some ghost stories.”

It took a little while for everyone to get comfortable. They moved all of the sofas and the chairs to the edge of the room, and all sat in a clump in the middle. Levi and Petra were near the centre, so everyone could see them. “Right, so this is how it’s going to work. You got a story, you put your fucking hand up, no calling out, and when either Levi or I pick you, you tell your story. Please keep your voice loud, so everyone can hear you!” Beside Eren, Sasha giggled, squirming in her seat.

“What the fuck?” he whispered to her, and she chuckled again.

“I just really love scary stories!” she laughed back at him.

“Okay, so I’ll go first,” Petra volunteered, clearing her throat. “A man checks into a hotel, only meaning to stay one night. So he goes to the front desk, asking for a room. The manager gives him his key, and says he’s free to explore the hotel, but to stay away from room 554. The man goes up to his room, and stays there for a little while, but he can’t sleep. So he goes to explore the hotel, and he comes to room 554. He’s not sure why the manager told him not to come to this room, but he decides to leave it alone,”

“Clever man,” Levi muttered. Petra glared at him, before rolling her eyes and continuing.

“But then he hears music coming from this room, and he decides to look through the keyhole-“

“Why would you do that…?” Levi murmured, and Petra elbowed him,

“Levi, when someone is telling a story, it is curtesy to shut the fuck up and listen, now, where was I?” she asked,

“The moron looked through the keyhole,” he prompted,

“Ah, yes! And he saw the most beautiful woman dancing, and he’s so amazed by her, he stays there the whole night, watching her. Because of this girl, he decides he’s going to stay another night at the hotel, to try and see her again. So the next night, he goes to room 554 and looks through the keyhole again. But this time, all he can see is red. No girl. No room. Just. Red. But he still stays there the whole night, hoping to see the girl.

“The man checks out of the hotel the next day, and as he is, he asks the manager why he wasn’t supposed to go to that room. The manager tells him because his daughter died in that room, and has haunted it ever since. Spooked, the guy asks how he knows it’s his daughter,” Petra looks up, her eyes following every single student in the room, before she speaks.

“Because she had one red eye.”

A few students around the room shiver, and chuckle to themselves, somewhat scared. Levi nods, “Right, who wants to tell the next story?” Sasha’s hand shoots straight up.

They go around the room, telling stories to each other, each in varying ranges of scariness. It’s nearly midnight when they begin coming to an end. “So, Levi, I know you’ve been holding back _your_ story, now c’mon, out with it!” Petra said, grinning. Over the course of the evening, Levi had migrated over to where Eren was sitting. He nodded, “alright, alright. This story is about this school,”

People immediately start to go quiet at that. “A long time ago, at this school, the attic used to be part of the girl’s dormitories. One girl, one day, wasn’t feeling very well, so was sent back to her room. Her room was the one at the very end of the, next to that large window – you know the one. She was feeling hot, and so she decided to open the window. And that’s when it happened. Students saw her fall from their classroom. The girl died on impact. But all of the people who saw it happen…they swore they saw somebody in the room when she fell. Someone who pushed her.

“And even now, it’s said she still haunts the school. People hear her wandering the school and dorms at night, calling out to people, trying to get their attention. And they say the haunting will stop if you answer the question she’s been asking for almost eighty years. Who killed Annie Leonhardt? Was…it…you?” he dug his hand right underneath Eren’s ribs, causing him to cry out. Levi snorted, before covering his mouth with his hand. The entire dorm burst into laughter, and Eren’s face flushed red. “Hey!” he yelled, slapping Levi’s side, pushing the older boy onto the floor. Petra clapped her hands together, “Okay! Now, everyone, get to bed! You start classes tomorrow, right? Go get some sleep!” People began quickly filtering out of the room. Eren stayed where he was on the floor. His side still hurt where Levi had jabbed him., but that wasn’t what was weighing on his mind. “Oi, Eren, you heard what Petra said – get to bed. Now.” Levi said, jabbing Eren in the back with his foot. Eren spun around, looking at the older boy. “Hey, Levi,” he began, “that story you told…was it true?”

Levi’s eyes flicked from Eren to the fireplace, and then back to Eren. “Oh yes,” he said finally, “very true,”

Eren swallowed, “And what’s in the attic now?”

“Storage for textbooks and stuff,” Levi turned his back on Eren, and began making his way to the boy’s rooms, “don’t worry. That window’s been sealed since the accident.” And with that, he left Eren alone in the common room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you for reading, and if you notice any errors, please tell me so I can correct myself !!  
> //17.12.14 - Minor edits to the fireplace story.


	3. Feet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren works out that he doesn't like spooky stories all that much.

The story Levi had told stayed with Eren long after the lights had gone out, and he tossed and turned in bed, but couldn’t find a comfortable position. Maybe it was the unfamiliar bed that made him restless. Or maybe it was the story. Regardless, he couldn’t will himself to sleep, no matter how much he tried. He heard the sound of Thomas breathing slowly from beside him, and even the steadiness of that couldn’t lull him into sleep. Eventually, he pulled himself out of his bed, rooting around in his suitcase to find pyjama bottoms and a sweatshirt to put on. Once he was dressed, he slipped out of his room and found his way into the common room.

He didn’t know why he went there, but he felt like he had to go somewhere. And he didn’t trust himself to go for a walk around the campus yet. The common room was dark, and the only sound was the ticking of the clock. He got bored fairly quickly, sitting curled up on himself on that big wingback chair, and he began tapping his knee, checking the clock almost every second, willing time to go faster. He didn’t even hear the door to the common room open, or hear them approach. He only noticed them when he felt a hand on his shoulder and he jumped, throwing himself out of the chair, readying himself for a fight.

“Jesus,” Levi muttered, “I _really_ should stop scaring you – one of these days you’re gunna throw me over your shoulder or something.” He sat down in the chair Eren had been occupying, though he barely filled it, and looked up at the brunet. “So,” he sighed, “why’re you awake?”

Eren shrugged, “I just…couldn’t sleep, I guess,”

“Was it the scary stories?” Levi smirked, and Eren furrowed his brows,

“No,” he snapped defensively, “I have concentration problems…sometimes that means I can’t get to sleep,” he explained. “Why are _you_ awake?”

Levi shrugged, “I have really bad insomnia, and I’d rather walk around here than in my room,”

Eren chuckled, “yeah I bet that’s a really good thing for your roommate,”

Levi frowned. “I don’t have a roommate. I’m House Leader, I don’t have to have a shitty roommate,” he explained. Eren stared at him, “Are you telling me that if I become a House Leader, I get to pick if I have a roommate?”

“Yup. We move dorms around every year, depending on who the Head Boy or Girl is. Pankhurst house has the South wing of the Sina Dorm, because Erwin’s Head Boy, which also means he gets the biggest fucking room ever. It’s not fair,” Levi whined. “If I’d been Head Boy, it would mean I don’t have a goddamn ordinary twin room. Do you know how weird it is, having a spare bed?” Eren shrugged, and Levi let his head fall back.  “So. Why’d you come to this school?” he asked. Eren shrugged,

“My dad thought I needed independence and to become more responsible on my own. He felt I needed more attention on my education, too, I guess. What about you?”

Levi chuckled, “I’m adopted. I went from homeless to having a large home as well as a holiday home in two different countries. Quite a change, ‘nd my dad thought it would be best if I had education at a boarding school just like this. So I could learn to be a gentleman, and so I could be a proper part of their family.” He told Eren.

“Good enough reason, I suppose,” Eren sat down on the chair opposite Levi. “So…with your insomnia, what, do you just sit here until you get tired?”

Levi nodded, “A lot of the time, yes. If I have homework, or a book, I’ll bring that, but…I heard someone else in here, and I’ve been told it’s rude to just sit down and read without talking to someone.”

“Who told you that?”

“Petra’s dad, when I was visiting them in the summer - with some aggression, too, after I sat down in the sitting room with him. I’m not invited ‘round there’s that much now,”

Eren laughed.  “Do you do anything else in the school? Like, you said you read and play rugby…”

Levi shrugged, “I do music stuff too? I play violin, but I’m not in the orchestra. To be honest, I just…learn popular songs on it. That’s all Petra and I do, really - we’re trying out Anaconda right now,”

Eren snorted, “Jesus, you have to let me hear that when you finish it,”

“And me and Erwin and Mike are in the boys choir, too.”

“So you do quite a lot musically?”

Levi shook his head, “Not really. Mike’s like…he can play any fucking instrument, I swear to Jesus, _and_ he can beatbox and sing? Compared to that, I do next to nothing. What about you?”

“I don’t sing, like, at all,” he laughed, “but I play piano sometimes. I’m not very good at it, though. My sister’s better,”

Levi shook his head, “so? My sister’s nine and she can play better violin then me, but you don’t see me crying about it,” he pulled right leg up to his chest, hugging it tightly.

“What’s your sister like?” Eren asked, picking at the cuff of his hoodie.

“Isabel? Like I said, she’s nine, very good at music, not the smartest kid ever, but whatever. She’s adopted, too. She’s most likely gunna come here, too. What about you ‘nd your sister?”

Eren ran a hand through his hair, “Her name’s Mikasa, and she’s adopted too, and fifteen, like me, but she’s better at me in absolutely everything without even trying. She’s a genius for sure.”

Levi nodded, “Hooray for genius adopted sisters.”

 

Eren had PE the next day – one of the first lessons he had. As a class, they were going to start playing hockey for this term. Eren wasn’t too good at the game, and from the looks of it, most of the boys in his class, save Reiner and Jean, were in the same boat. The girls on the other pitch were a very different story, however. It was like world war three over there. They couldn’t go five minutes without hearing a mad shriek from either Sasha, Mikasa or Ymir, and someone else getting shoved into the mud. Eren wasn’t really feeling up to running across a muddy field, slipping over, and such, and so he managed to work his way into goal defence with a boy called Bertholdt. “So,” Eren began, digging his hockey stick into the dirt, “the girls over there really seem to be getting into it,”

Bertholdt chewed his lip, “Yeah…I really wouldn’t want to go up against them or anything, seriously,” he murmured, “and from the looks of it, the year 13 boys, either.”

Eren looked up, and saw Levi running towards a taller, dirty blonde boy at full force. To be honest, Eren thought that Levi wouldn’t really make that much of a difference, not with how big the other guy was. Surprisingly though, as Levi approached him, he crouched lower to the ground, grabbing at the boy’s lower legs, knocking him over, sending the both of them flying into the mud. Levi stood up quickly, trying to brush as much mud as he could off his face and hands. Something drew Eren’s eyes, though. It covered the majority of Levi’s thigh, and Petra’s words replayed in Eren’s mind.

_“_ _No, Levi, we used to be able to have the gas fire on, but you had your accident, and now we can’t,”_

The pale, twisted skin of Levi’s burn stood out on his legs, and Eren couldn’t help but wonder what had _really_ happened to him.

 

Because of his and Levi’s late night chat, Eren found he could hardly keep his eyes open in his English class. The teacher kept babbling _on and on_ about the beginning of the year admin, so really, it wasn’t his fault when his eyes shut, and he didn’t hear the teacher addressing him. It was only when Armin had nudged him to wake him up that he had heard what the teacher was saying. “Eren. Jaeger. Would you mind going to get the four extra spares of _Twelfth Night_ that we need?” she snapped. Eren blushed.

“Uh…yeah, sure…where do I get them?” he asked.

“The storage block. Last door on the left. Quickly, please.”

Eren wasn’t exactly happy about going back to the supply block, but he didn’t have a choice. Besides, it had been Levi making him feel like he was being watched before. There was no reason as to why he felt so…nervous.

Okay, he had to admit: it had something to do with Levi’s story. And as he made his way down the corridor, leaving the sound of school behind him, he felt as though he were crossing over into a different universe. He stiffened up, turning sharply, and speeding up the stairs. He didn’t care if he looked dumb running, he was going to make sure he was out of that block as fast as humanly possible.

The first floor corridor was dark – the lights worked on a motion based sensor, and before Eren was recognised, he was surrounded by silence and darkness. He breathed shakily, and he willed himself to move forward, the entire corridor flashing to life. The light helped him calm down a little bit, and he began to move down the corridor again, when he heard something.

A thump.

One of the doors at the end of the corridor shutting.

Someone else was there in the block with him. In the English supply room. He stood at the end of the corridor, his breathing heavy. It took a long time for him to get himself to move, and even then, he broke out in a jog to reach the end.

The English supply room was dark, but there didn’t seem to be a light switch or anything and Eren most certainly did not trust himself to look for these books in the dark, so he took a stool that was placed in the corner of the room and propped the door open with it, letting some light into the room. The room was not particularly organised, with a few tables of varying heights covered in tall piles of books. It was a maze of literature. He saw _Twelfth Night_ at the back of the room, just behind a large pile of _An Inspector Calls_ books. He slowly managed to work his way around the piles, and found himself at the back of the room, reaching up to get the books in question. As he did, he heard a loud bang, and he was surrounded by black. He froze, the books dropping from his hands. Eren crouched, scrambling to pick up the books, and as ducked under one of the tables, he saw, in the slim light given off from the crack in the door, feet.

The person stood still for a moment, and subconsciously, Eren too stayed totally silent. His breathing sounded deafening in his own ears as he lay frozen, his eyes fixed on this person’s feet. They stayed completely still, waiting for something. Listening. Eren knew they could hear him breathing. The skin of the feet was pale and had an almost bluish tinge to them in the light from the corridor. They turned towards the back of the room, directly in front of where Eren was hiding. The person took one step forward before stopping. They waited again for mere seconds, before turning towards the door, opening it and padding out of the room. Eren pressed the books to his chest as he sat up. His throat felt thick with fear. The entire room felt as though it was bearing down on him, and he quickly got himself up, and ran for the door, throwing himself into the light of the corridor. At first he was filled with relief, and then anxiety.

Either way he looked, he couldn’t see the person who had been in the English storeroom with him.

Eren filed silently back into the classroom, and Armin couldn’t help take note of the paleness of his skin, and the panicked expression he was wearing. It almost looked, Armin thought, as though he had seen a ghost.


	4. A Shock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone falls in love on the PE pitch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop!  
> I'm so pleased with how fast I'm updating this!!

For the second time in two days, Eren didn’t sleep. He concluded it was for two reasons:

Firstly, because he couldn’t stop thinking about that person he’d seen. Who walks a school barefoot? Unless it was a student coming from PE in the gym – but then why would they need to be in the English storeroom? He didn’t understand it. Who would do that? He’d been too nervous to tell Armin or Mikasa – how do you explain you got spooked by a barefoot weirdo? And where did they go after he’d come out of the storeroom? None of the doors around the English room were moving as though someone had entered them, and the stairway was too far away for them to have left. He just didn’t understand it.

And two, it was because it sounded like someone was playing ball in the common room, and it was annoying the fuck out of him. He was a sensitive sleeper, and although Thomas had gone straight to sleep despite this thumping, Eren couldn’t do it. He eventually stood up, finding his sweatshirt and for the second night in a row, he found his way down to the common room.

He knocked on the door before he entered, not wanting to give whoever was inside the same fright Levi had given him before. “Come in,” a voice called from inside, and he opened the door and found Levi and Erwin stood on opposite sides of the room. “Ah, Eren, did my scary story seriously keep you up for two nights in a row?” Levi inquired, bouncing the ball in the middle of the room, Erwin putting his hands up to catch it when it came flying his way. Eren rolled his eyes, “No, it was your fucking game,” he turned his eyes towards Erwin, “Also…why is he here? Isn’t he supposed to be in his own dorm?”  Erwin smiled at the question,

“Maybe. But does that mean I can’t come out and see my dearest friend Levi?”

“Well…yeah…because there are rules about it?” Erwin chuckled,

“Oh who cares about that?” he replied, bouncing the ball back to Levi.

“Yeah. So, anyway, can you stop that?” Eren asked.

“Stop what?” Levi asked, bouncing the ball back to Erwin.

“This game, or whatever you’re doing. I need to get to sleep,” Eren put his hands in the front pocket of his hoodie, shrugging. Erwin stopped, and slumped down onto one of the sofas. Levi sat next to him. “Okay,” Erwin nodded, “so what are we supposed to do now?” And the two boys stared at Eren expectantly.

He wasn’t entirely sure, but he had a feeling Erwin and Levi had pulled this act on many students and teachers alike. The mutual stare they were giving was too well rehearsed to have been an on the spot sort of thing. They were probably the asshole tag team in their classes – the two students teachers warn each other about in the staff room – “Oh you have Erwin and Levi?  Separate them now. Before it’s too late.” The two students that knew how to induce a mental breakdown on a teacher, the two who are now purposefully put in different classes.

And they were probably dating too.

Eren wasn’t exactly sure what it was about that that made him feel like he’d just been smashed in the skull with the butt of a rifle, but there was indeed something about that realisation that crushed him. He slumped his shoulders, “why can’t you two just sit quietly?” he mumbled, leaning on a cabinet nearby. Erwin and Levi sighed, but sat in silence as he’d instructed. This lasted all about ten seconds, until Erwin caught Levi’s eye, and Levi nudged Erwin’s knee with his. Erwin, of course, returned it, a little more violently. This continued for a little while, before Levi got bored and elbowed the blonde boy next to him. And that was it. They both ended up wrestling on the floor, creating an even bigger sound than before. Eren sighed, “Just…please try to keep it down a little bit? I really need to sleep,” and he turned to leave the room when he heard the boys behind him stop.

“Hey Eren,” Levi called from his position underneath Erwin, “Good night – don’t let the bed bugs bite.”

 

They had PE again the next day. Not just PE, but two hours of PE. The rest of the school was arriving, and so students were wandering onto the muddy field in a steady stream, the blue, red, green and orange jerseys separating into their different corners. Levi and Petra stood at the front of Nelson House’s corner– Levi’s blue and black striped jersey’s sleeves were rolled up, and his scarred thigh was on display, and Eren could see Sasha’s eyes brushing over it once or twice as she observed their house leaders. Petra’s light hair was tied back in a stubby little ponytail, her hands on her hips. “Right!” she called, “We’re going to be looking at your strengths today, seeing which team you’re going to be put on for inter house. As always, Levi will be in charge of the rugby teams, and I will be in charge of the sprinting teams.  Get stretching!”

Eren felt some sort of dread as he began warming up between Ymir and Sasha. “So which teams are you hoping to be on?” he asked. Ymir gritted her teeth as she pulled her leg up behind her.

“Girls Rugby, of course,” she muttered.

“I don’t mind either way, really – I think I’m decent at both,” Sasha reasoned, tightening her ponytail, “what about you, Eren?”

“Ehh…I think I’d prefer sprinting,” he replied, stretching his leg out in front of him. First up for the year 10s was sprinting. The school had a straight one hundred metre track with four lanes - one for each house. On Eren’s right was a tall freckled boy adorned with the orange jersey of Fawcett, and beyond him a ridiculously muscular boy in the green and black jersey of Pankhurst House. He didn’t mind much about those two, though. They weren’t who he was interested in. Who had drawn his attention was the boy in the red and black shirt of Churchill. Jean. The two toned boy glared at Eren, “Don’t push yourself too hard, alright Jaeger? It’ll only make it more embarrassing for you when you lose,” Eren rolled his shoulders,

“What makes you so sure I’ll lose?” he challenged.

“Tch, you’re shorter than me,”

“Only by a fucking tiny amount,”

“Still means your legs are shorter than mine,”

Eren rolled his eyes, “I’ve seen the five foot three gremlin that is my house leader tackle the beast that is _your_ house leader. Don’t be so sure I’ll be a pushover,” Jean smirked, crouching down, getting into the correct starting position.

“Whatever, just get down here and prove you’re so much better than me,”

The moment Nanaba let her hand drop, Eren willed himself forward, his foot hitting the ground, pushing himself forward. He forgot about the two on his other side, focusing entirely on Jean beside him. He was going to win.

But Jean stayed remarkably close to him the entire time, not giving up, never allowing that much space to fill between them. Eren had to lose him, though, and as the sight of Petra and the other deputies came into view, he pushed himself forward, losing sight of Jean beside him for a little while. He perhaps pushed himself a little too far, and his foot slipped on the mud, slipping forward and then backwards and then ultimately leading him to sliding flat on his front. He heard a cry from beside him, and before he knew it, Jean had fallen too. The good thing was, Eren had fallen in front of the finishing line. Petra stopped her stopwatch, cackling wildly at the two boys on the floor. Jean moaned next to him, and Eren rolled over onto his back in time to see the freckled boy from the lane next to him hoping over. “Are you two alright? Do you need a hand up?” he asked.

Jean reached one hand up to the boy. “Yeah, no thanks to Eren over there. You fell into my lane – made me lose my balance,”

Eren chuckled, “I still came first though, right?” There was no answer, and he looked up at Petra. “Right? I beat him?” The girl shrugged, turning to converse with Nanaba. After a few moments, Nanaba looked up. “Maybe next time, Kirstein,” she said, showing him the stopwatch. 12.81 seconds for Eren and 13.03 for Jean. “Although technically, freckles over there in Pankhurst won, because you two just happened to slip over the finishing line.” She said firmly, “Try being less clumsy next time, you two.” And she walked away to record the result on her clipboard. Petra helped Eren up. “I’m on sprinting, right?” he pleaded. She smiled,

“Well, with a score like that, you’d have to be the most amazing rugby player to get picked for that,” she agreed. He exhaled happily, going to join the three other boys who had just run.

 

Sitting and watching was quite fun, if he ignored the incessant murmur of conversation from Jean and the freckled boy, Marco. It was almost painful to listen to – Jean was an _awful_ flirter, and Marco was the most oblivious idiot in the world. The attraction was obvious, but those two weren’t going to see it anytime soon. The races were quite amusing too – there was a completely unfair race between a 6’3 giant and a 5’2 boy. The smaller one put up a good fight, but in the end, the taller boy could have quite honestly jogged and still beaten the others with cool down time to spare. “What happened to you and Jean…?” he murmured as he came to sit down next to the blonde boy who had raced Eren. The blonde – Reiner – barked out a quick laugh. “The two of them fell over the finishing line. Oh man, you missed it Bert, it was fucking _hilarious_ ,” he chuckled, throwing an arm around the taller boy. Eren turned his head towards the two of them (and quite deliberately away from Jean and Marco), “So, have you and Reiner been friends long?” he asked. Bertholdt shrugged,

“…yeah, I guess. We’ve gone to the same schools, and our families are close too,” he replied politely.

Eren furrowed his eyebrows. “Your families are close?”

“Oh yeah! My dad went to school with his dad, and my granddad went to school with Bert’s granddad, man, our families have been together for ages! If you look at the old photo albums in the library, you’ll find countless school photos with Fubar and Braun!” Reiner added. And that was when Eren had a thought. They’d have school year photographs going back years. Maybe they’d have Annie Leonhardt’s photograph. “Hey…do you think we could go check out those albums? Y’know, to see if anyone else in our class’s grandparents knew yours?” he stammered, and Bert smiled – he gave off the impression of an incredibly easily startled deer, who was just happy that he wasn’t being attacked – “sure,” he agreed, “after lessons are over today.”

 

Levi wrinkled his nose at the sight of Eren. “Oh hell no,” he muttered, “you are not coming anywhere near me. You were _sprinting_ – how the fuck did you get so much mud on you?” he demanded. Eren’s face went red,

“I um, slipped?” he responded. Levi shook his head,

“Whatever – we’re playing Pankhurst first, get in line,”

Eren first began to panic when he saw Ymir lining up next to him. “Um, Levi? I thought we were playing boys vs boys and girls vs girls?” he questioned. The older boy smirked, rolling up his sleeves, the ball balanced under his arm. “What, are you scared some of the Pankhurst girls will beat your ass?” he asked, getting ready to kick the ball.

“Yes! You don’t understand! My _sister_ is on that team and I know for certain she will kill whoever gets in her way!” His warning fell on deaf ears, and Levi started the game.

Mikasa went storming through after the ball, not caring whether she rammed into her own team or not. Ymir was exactly the same, though. The ball landed in a particularly delicate blonde girl’s hands during the game and no sooner had she realised that the ball was in her possession, had Ymir thrown her to the floor. They two girls had stayed on the floor, Ymir on top of the smaller girl, and they just…stared at each other. “Hey!” Erwin called, “You two can start a romantic relationship when you’re not on my pitch! Now get moving!” he barked.

Eren bit his lip, “Shit, you guys take this seriously,” he whispered to himself.

“’course. What’s the point in playing if you’re going to make a half-assed job of it?” Levi asked.

Eren stared back at his house leader, for a moment completely unaware of what was happening around him. Levi was sweating a little bit from how hard he was playing, and his body heaved as he sucked in breath. His brows were furrowed, his eyes fixed on the game. In retrospect, Eren probably should have been paying as much attention as Levi was, because the only thing he really noticed was Levi’s eyes widening as he looked past Eren’s shoulder, and him yelling “INCOMING!” before impact. Mikasa came barrelling past the two of them, knocking Eren into Levi – the smaller boy’s chin knocking hard against Eren’s shoulder as they tumbled to the ground.

Eren was on top of Levi, his hands pressed into the dirt just above Levi’s shoulders, pinning him down. Their chests were pressed fast against each other. Levi stared at Eren, his lips slightly parted, his eyes searching the younger boy’s face. His chin was becoming increasingly red from the impact with Eren’s shoulder. “Well, fuck,” Levi murmured, still in some sort of shock.

Eren offered a weak smile, “I tried to tell you my sister was brutal,”

Levi nodded, “point taken,” and he stared at Eren’s face again, his hands coming up and hovering in mid-air, just beside Eren’s face. “Now get off me, kid, I don’t need Erwin yelling at us,” and there it was. Eren’s moment ended. Erwin still existed, and Levi was with him. Silently, Eren rolled off the older boy, and got to his feet on his own. The head boy had already run over and was carefully inspecting Levi. “Fuck, you head-butted his shoulder really hard,”

“It wasn’t a head-butt. It was only my chin, I’m not _that_ short,”

“Is your stomach alright?”

“What do you mean is my stomach alright?” Erwin’s eyes turned hard,

“You know what I mean,” he snapped, his hand hovering over the left side of Levi’s abdomen.

“It’s fine, I think, at least. You know my nerves are a bit fucked up, so I’ll check properly later.”

Eren turned away from the conversation, looking back towards the school. The English block was visible from where he was stood, and in one of the top classrooms, he saw someone. He couldn’t make out much detail of the person, but he could tell it was a girl. A small, pale faced girl. She had short blonde hair, most of it covering her face, and her hand was up. She wasn’t…waving, so to speak, so much as her fingers were slowly twitching. It was an odd, slow movement, and Eren watched as her hand slowly curled into a fist, and she dropped her arm to her side.  She was watching him though, and it sent a cold shiver up his spine. He didn’t like her watching him. He didn’t like her presence. There was a certain, unfamiliar sensation in his throat when she looked at him. His windpipe felt strained, and it took effort for him to force air in and out. “Hey, Eren!” Sasha called to him, and he turned around in time to dodge a few players coming his way, and by the time he looked back to the window, the girl was gone.

 

Several minutes of showering and changing later, Eren hobbled along with Reiner and Bertholdt to the library. “Jesus, Reiner, it wasn’t that funny,”

“No, fucking seriously dude. How do you manage to fall over twice? It wasn’t even that muddy!”

“My sister ran into me. Full force. We’ll see if you could stay standing if that ever happened to you,” he snapped. Reiner smiled at him, “I’m quite surprised that shorty’s chin did so much damage to your shoulder. Honestly, like wow, does he have a chin of iron or something?”

“Please don’t call him short,” Eren argued back weakly.

Bertholdt agreed to let Eren take a seat whilst he and Reiner searched for the albums they were looking for. “Here we are,” he announced, “Sixth Form, 1930-1940.” And he slammed it down on the table, flicking through the book. “This is mine and Reiner’s grandfathers,” he explained, pointing to two faces in the crowd. “And…there’s Marco’s grandma, up there,” he said, pointing to a girl. Eren’s eyes scanned over the names underneath the picture, when he came across a familiar name. “Grisha Jaeger,” he mumbled, “but that’s my dad’s name?” he dragged his finger across the page, finding the boy who fit that name. His eyebrows went up in surprise, “that’s my grandpa,” he licked his lips, “I didn’t know he went to this school…”

Bertholdt shrugged, “a lot of people who come here have family ties to this school, it just happens, I suppose,” but Eren didn’t care about that suddenly. Because one face on the page was staring back at him, and he had no choice but to stare back in disbelief. Despite the grainy photograph, he _knew_ that face. It had been staring at him from the English block no less than an hour ago. His finger was shaking as he read through the names, finding the one that belonged to her. “No way,” his voice was trembling.

The girl in the photograph, and the girl he’d seen at the window, was indeed Annie Leonhardt.


	5. To Sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi has problems sleeping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the shorter chapter  
> I think this story won't be very long - I haven't planned for that at least.  
> Other ships and characters will be making more of an entrance in the next few chapters!!

Truth be told, up until year 10, Levi had been a fairly average sleeper. He got to bed on time, slept for a full five hours, was always awake early and could concentrate in lessons. His sleep had begun getting disturbed when he was fourteen years old, and had never recovered. He was positive that it had everything to do with Rose Academy, yet the problem lingered with him even after he went home over the holidays. He lost weight – his appetite failing him, and his grades slipped. Over the Christmas holidays, his father had dragged him to a doctor and had him diagnosed with insomnia. Fuck all that did. Levi’s body had eventually grown used to the lack of sleep, and he was able to function on maybe three hours of sleep a night.

His lack of sleep was normal to him, what wasn’t normal to him, however, was _Eren_ ’s lack of sleep. He could tell the boy was used to at least five hours of sleep - not the few hours he was working on. So when Eren showed up in the common room, like he had every night for the last two weeks, Levi shook his head. “Go back to bed, Eren,” he called.

“Can’t. If I could, I would of,” the boy grunted. Levi sighed, slumping down further into the chair he was sat him.

“But you’re not even trying anymore,” he pointed out. Eren sat down next to him.

“Neither do you,” he retorted. Levi raised his eyebrows,

“Fuck you. I’m older than you, I’m allowed to stay up late. But you’re like…fourteen. You need your sleep at fourteen,” he pressed. Eren snorted,

“You need your sleep at seventeen,” he replied. Levi stayed quiet, showing the kid he was not in the mood for his bullshit. “I’m fifteen, by the way,” Eren said quietly.

“Oh, so you’re one of those kids that is born like super early in the year?”

Eren shook his head, “nah, me and Mika were held back a year.”

Levi sat up, “Are you shitting me? You don’t look that dumb?”

“It wasn’t intelligence, it was…” he paused, trying to find good ways of explaining it, “personal reasons, I guess,” he mumbled. Levi nodded his head sympathetically,

“Yeah, I get that,” he agreed, “there’s shit about myself no one but my closest friends will ever hear, too.” Eren nodded, laughing to himself. “Jesus Christ, have we really reached the point where we need to mope our way through the night?”

Levi shrugged, “Nah mate, I’m never gunna mope about shit with you. Do you have homework you need help with? Because I am a fucking whizz at maths and English.”

Eren thought about the offer. “Actually…I’m really struggling with 3D Pythagoras,” he admitted. Levi snorted,

“Jesus, if you’re struggling with that, no way are you going to keep up with the rest of the work. 3D Pythag is basic compared to that,”

“Oh shut up and wait here whilst I go get it.”

 

“So do you get it now?” Levi asked. Eren raised one of his eyebrows,

“Eh, I guess? We’ll see next lesson,” he muttered as he shut his books. A silence filled the room. “That was a really cool thing for you to do – helping me out, I mean,” Levi shrugged.

“Eh, it was no trouble. Now seriously, go the fuck to sleep. We gotta stop meeting like this,” he said firmly.

Eren smirked, “why? Because you’re scared people will talk?” he teased. Levi shook his head,

“No. I’m afraid you’re going to fall asleep in your lessons and blame me,” he tucked his chair into the table they’d been sat at.

“So… you’re not scared that your boyfriend will get jealous of me hanging out with you?”

Levi snorted, “You have no idea how happy I am that you think I’m able to get a boyfriend. God bless you, Eren,”

The brunet furrowed his eyebrows. “Erwin’s not your boyfriend?”

Levi sighed, “No. I’ve known him most of my life, and he’s very important to me, and there was a time when we thought that maybe we were in love, but no. We decided that we were better off being friends.”

Eren smirked, “what? Did you sleep with him?”

Levi didn’t respond, and Eren’s mouth fell open. “You’re shitting me. Who has sex with their best friend?” Levi threw his hands up in the air, “Since when was it your concern?” he snapped back. Eren’s mouth shut,

“Sorry,” he mumbled meekly. Levi exhaled heavily,

“Just…go to sleep, Eren, please,” the brunet nodded silently, “I’m not mad at you, by the way. I know it was bad of us, but it happened and we’ve moved past it,” Levi explained. “Now get to bed,” Eren smiled meekly at him,

“Okay,” he agreed eventually, “see you in the morning, Levi,” he sang.

“You too, brat.” There was something about the exchange that made something stir in Levi. He’d only known the kid two weeks, but he already felt so comfortable with him. He followed the boy to the door which led out into the hallway for the boys dorms. “Good night,” he called as Eren wandered down the hall to his own door. He opened it, and smiled at Levi briefly before closing it behind him. Levi hung around in the doorway for a moment or two, smiling to himself. He liked Eren, he really did. He listened to what Levi said, and could hold conversations with him, but at the same time wasn’t scared to challenge him, or make fun of him. He was fun to be around, and Levi truly did like him.

The lamp at the end of the corridor flickered to life, and Levi furrowed his eyebrows as the light spread out across the floor. His eyes were focussed on the floor, and he knew what was happening before he even looked up. A tightness spread through his chest, his throat closed up. Every bone in his body detested him looking up and confirming it. But he willed himself to look anyway. And he saw her. Her blonde hair covered most of her face, and her head was tilted at an odd angle. She was watching him. Levi stared her in the face, but in his mind, he was pleading with himself to look away. He couldn’t do that, though – he couldn’t lose to her again. Everything in his body rejected her being, he felt a need to turn and run away from her, for fear that she would come closer. She stared back at him, her eyes wild and dark. And then her pupils flicked over to the right, watching one door in particular. “Don’t you dare,” Levi whispered in disgust, finally turning away from her and going back into the common room.

His breathing was shaky, as he slumped down in an armchair in the dark. He could go wake Erwin up, stay in his room for the night. But that would be a weak move. That would be letting her win. He gathered himself together in the darkness, his hand brushing the bumpy, uneven skin of his left thigh, the motion calming him. He stood up from his chair, turning to face the door again. He wasn’t ever going to let her win. She couldn’t control him like that.

The lamp had turned off by the time he got back into the corridor, and he shuffled along in the dark, regulating his breathing. He reached the turn at the end of the corridor the lamp beside him. The next corridor was the last one – his room was at the very end. He sighed, collecting himself again, when he felt breathing on the back of his neck. He froze. _In…out…in…out…in…out…in…_

Levi turned around, and saw nothing. He shook his head, calming himself as he made his way to his room, switching on the light as fast as he could. Everything was neat and orderly – in its proper place, just where he’d left it. He slept on the bed on the left side of the room, leaving the right one free. Everything in his room was just as it should be, and the tightness in his chest lifted as he went to draw the curtains, turning out the light and got into his own bed.

He was still awake hours later, and he rolled onto his side to check his clock. 3:25. He sighed, shutting his eyes and becoming still – as if he could force himself to sleep. That was when his eyes opened wide, his whole body tensing with fear. He could hear someone in the bed next to him. It took a long time before he could get his body to cooperate with him, and roll over. And even then, he would much rather have kept his eyes shut and pretend it wasn’t happening. He didn’t want to look. He kept his eyes squeezed shut, his fingers clenching the duvet. And then he did it. He looked. His room was dark in the early hours of the morning, but he could see the dark figure lying flat in the bed next to him. And he could see as they sat up in bed, their head turning to look at him.

That was when Levi decided he didn’t care about superiority, and he shut his eyes. He didn’t want to see her.

He fell asleep eventually, and dreamt of her.

 

Erwin passed Petra on her way to the dining hall. “Where’s Levi?” he asked. She shrugged,

“I dunno? Go check his room,” she muttered, brushing passed him. Erwin was fairly familiar with the Nelson boys dormitory – it had belonged to Pankhurst last year. As he made his way down the hallway, he became aware of a damp spot just next to a lamp on the end of the corridor. He thought it was a little odd – but the school was old, and the dormitories were in an especially dire state - Levi had nearly fainted when he’d discovered the mould build up in the corner of Hanji’s room. He didn’t dwell on it though, and continued on to knock at Levi’s door. There wasn’t a response, so he let himself in.

Levi was lying face down in his bed. The boy wasn’t a particularly attractive sleeper – he often rolled and moved in his sleep, kicking off most of the bed sheets as he did. And Erwin couldn’t help laugh to himself at the sight of his friend. “Levi,” he called, and he got a moan in response. “Levi, it’s breakfast time, wake up.” The smaller boy lifted his head off the pillow for a second before dropping back down again.

“Not hungry,” he grunted. Erwin chuckled, moving over to Levi’s desk, looking at all of the things that occupied the space.

“You still have to get up for lessons,”

“’m sick,” Levi groaned. Erwin shook his head,

“Get up before I drag you out,” he really meant it. And Levi knew he meant it – he’d done it before. That was what got him up and moving. “Bad night?” Erwin asked.

“Couldn’t sleep,”

“So nothing new then?” Erwin confirmed as Levi took off his night shirt. Erwin frowned, “did you sleep in both beds?” Levi looked at him oddly as he threw on a new school shirt.

“No?”

“Well then why is the other bed disturbed?”

Levi looked down, and both of the boys stared at the bed on the right. The bed sheet was hardly on the mattress, the duvet was half falling off the bed, and the pillow - it had one firm indent in it, as if someone had been resting their head on it. Levi looked at Erwin.

And both boys knew immediately that she was back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you so much for reading!  
> My tumblr is anri-kun.tumblr.com if anyone would like to follow me there.  
> I love getting comments, and seeing what everyone thinks of my stories!!   
> Thank you again!!


	6. Playing with Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi and Eren start to realise there's more to their relationship then just late night conversations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The soundtrack to writing this chapter was every Paloma Faith album I could find on YouTube.

Ymir was practically humming by the time she joined Sasha and Eren back in the common room. “What’s got you in such a cheery mood?” Sasha chuckled, and Ymir shrugged,

“Maybe because Krista just agreed to go on a date with me,” she giggled, and Sasha squealed in response, clapping her hands in excitement.

Eren smirked, “is this the Krista you barrelled into last PE?” he asked, and Ymir nodded,

“The very same. We got to talking in the medical room – because she thought she’d sprained her ankle – and it turns out she’s cute _and_ amazing to talk to,” Eren looked up at Ymir and saw the freckled girl blushing slightly to herself. God, she was absolutely smitten.

 “And where are you taking this cutie for a date? Only sixth formers are allowed to leave the school grounds,” he pointed out and Ymir shrugged,

“We’re just going to the library,” she muttered, “but it doesn’t matter where we go, she’ll still be adorable and great to be around,” Ymir sighed as she slumped into her seat. Eren flipped the page of his book,

“Well, I commend you for asking her out – you already have more balls than Jean does,”

Sasha burst into laughter, “Oh man! Watching him try to flirt with Marco is the most hilarious thing in the world! Honestly, Marco would totally say yes if Jean asked, but neither of them will do anything…”

Ymir pressed her lips into a line, and slumped her shoulders, “Poor baby homosexuals…maybe I should help ‘em out,”  

Eren slammed his book shut, “Please don’t. It’s fucking hilarious watching the two of them cart around each other,” Ymir tilted her head,

“but it’s not nice doing that to someone,” she reasoned,

“Oh since when did you care about being nice?”

Ymir and Sasha looked at him knowingly, “We wouldn’t _just_ help out Jean and Marco – we could help you and Levi out, too,”

Eren blushed, “me and Levi? Why would we need help?”

Sasha just cocked her hair and smiling knowingly at him as she picked her book up and resumed reading. Ymir just patted him on the shoulder as she wandered off to her room to get some work to do.

 

“Alright, everyone, listen up!” Eren heard Petra yelling, accompanied by the whoops and cheers of some of the older students –

“oh man, Levi’s got his violin out again!”

“Holy shit do you remember when he did _Thrift Shop_?”

He looked up and saw Hanji, Petra, Levi and Mike struggling into the room with a selection of stringed music instruments - a stringed quartet, how odd. They began setting up their equipment and their music stands, tuning their instruments, “We’re gunna practise in here for a little while, hope that’s okay with you guys?” Hanji asked, which was followed by more cheering from the other students in Nelson house.

“Nah, you know we love hearing you guys play!” A couple of boys who always seemed to hang out with Petra and Levi called, “What’re you working on now?”

Levi furrowed his brows, “As a quartet, _Pompeii_ , _Don’t Stop Believing_ , and _Royals_ ,” he recalled, bringing his violin up to his chin, plucking at the strings experimentally.

When they began playing, everyone stopped to watch. Eren couldn’t help but notice how happy Levi seemed – he wasn’t a stationary player. He liked to walk as he played, swaying to the side, changing direction – he was a joy to watch. Hanji did the same thing – honestly, Mike was the only player who didn’t seem to move, and Eren supposed it was because he physically couldn’t. The students moved back to give them a little stage in the corner. Eren couldn’t take his eyes off the performance, and judging from the complete stillness in the room, he wasn’t the only one. Eren couldn’t help feel that Levi had lied to him when he’d said that he wasn’t a very good violin player – he was amazing, Eren thought. You could tell that he truly enjoyed his music and playing with his friends from the way he moved, the way he smiled when he caught Hanji or Petra’s eye.

Eren was sure you could have heard the applause all the way from the main building in the school.

 

They only had three songs to rehearse, and although they had requests to replay some of the older songs they’d done, they were finished fairly early, and everyone began packing up their instruments after only about an hour’s practise. Levi had noticed Eren sitting quietly in his chair a few times during the performance. “Hey, brat,” he called. Eren knew immediately it was for him.

“It’s Eren,” he reminded,

“Eren, brat, same diff, come here a sec,” Petra looked at him oddly, but continued packing up her violin. Eren made his way through the crowd towards Levi, “do you need me to help pack up and shit?” he asked.

Levi shook his head, “do you want to learn how to play a violin?” Levi ignored the sound of Hanji and Mike chuckling. Eren looked between Levi and the instrument, “are you kidding me?”

“Nope. One time only offer, kid. Do you want me to teach you or not?” he insisted. Eren swallowed,

“Um, yeah, sure,” Levi placed the violin in Eren’s hands, and explained to him how to hold it. Eren was a little bit awkward, but he held it good enough. “Right, now put the bow to the strings,” Eren followed the instructions, but didn’t realise Levi hadn’t meant play. The violin made a sound somewhat similar to a shrieking cat, and everyone around Eren either laughed or swore. Levi rolled his eyes, “please don’t ever make that sound on Farlan again,”

Eren smirked, “Farlan? You named your violin?”

“My violin is important to me - it just makes it easier to give him a name,”

“ _Him_? Oh my god,” Eren cackled, “well I suppose you’re gay, so you would have hardly made it a girl,”

“Damn right,” Levi grumbled, coming up to stand behind Eren, “now, so you don’t make that shitty noise again,” and he took hold of Eren’s hand, repositioning the bow, and then he laid his fingers over Eren’s at the end. “We’ll see if this’ll work,” he grunted, moving Eren’s hands, getting him to slowly play a few notes. It wasn’t an awful noise, but Eren was nowhere near perfect. Levi was honestly more focussed on how close he could get to Eren’s back without it looking weird – he did have to stand on his tiptoes to look over Eren’s shoulder, which was a little bit embarrassing, but he didn’t particularly care. He let go of Eren’s hands, and stepped back, “so what do you think, Eren?” he asked.

He laughed gently, “I don’t think I’m destined for any greatness in the violin,”

Levi smirked, “agreed,” he replied, shutting Farlan in his case, and moving out to put it in his room.

 

Petra, Hanji, Mike and Erwin were all crowded in his room, which wasn’t what he was expecting at all, and he did jump for a moment when he saw them. “Fuck, please do not ever do that to me again,” he gasped, wandering over to the cupboard, putting his case back inside.

“So, who’s the brunet?” Hanji asked,

“That would be Eren,” Erwin cut in before Levi had a chance to say anything.

“New boy in our house,” Petra added. Levi glared at them in defeat.

“What about him?”

“You liiiike him!” Hanji pointed out, and Levi just stared at her.

“I do? Wow, that’s news to me,” he said sarcastically, “now can you all get out of my room?”

“You _never_ let anyone touch Farlan,” Petra sighed,

“When are you asking him out?” Mike asked, ignoring him.

“Never,”

His friends all made noises of protest. “C’mon, Levi…won’t this be your first boyfriend?” Hanji asked.

Levi gritted his teeth, “nope, because he won’t _be_ a boyfriend,” he said as he began remaking his bed to busy himself.

“Would you kiss him?” Mike asked, Levi shrugged,

“Eh, maybe?”

“This is your problem. You’re fine with kissing and things like that, but it’s the actual dating, you can’t do,” Erwin pointed out – which stung, coming from him. “Nope, I just find it easier because teenagers are all up for experimenting with sexuality and are all up for making out,” Levi explained.

Petra shrugged, “so you’re just scared of being told ‘sorry I’m straight’?”

“Not scared. Just would rather avoid it,”

“Do you want us to ask if he’s straight?” Hanji offered, and Levi turned to stare at her.

“No. Most definitely no,” he sighed, “just…stay away from him, okay?” he breathed out, “Now seriously, I have an English essay to plan.”

Reluctantly, his friends all left, except for Erwin, who hung back. “Are you gunna be okay on your own tonight?” he asked.

Levi shrugged, “Yeah, I’m sure - you know I’ll come get you if I’m not,” Erwin looked down,

“What if you don’t get a chance to come get me?”

Levi rolled his eyes, “It was one time... it’s hardly going to happen again,”

“Yeah you say that, but how much do you remember about that night, Levi?” Erwin snapped, and Levi stayed quiet, because truth be told, he really didn’t remember anything. “Because you have no idea what it was like for us – to sit up late whilst you were in surgery, or having to visit you in the hospital,” Erwin sucked on his lower lip, considering his words. “I do not want to have to call an ambulance for you again. I do not want to have to sit in a waiting room for you to get out of surgery. I do not want to have to sit through physical therapy with you again. I do not-“

“I get it, Erwin,” Levi snapped, Erwin cocked his head,

“And regardless of what _you_ feel personally, Eren likes you, so make sure you keep yourself safe for our sakes,” and he clapped his hand onto Levi’s shoulder before leaving his room as well.

Levi didn’t go to the common room at first - he got into bed, trying to force himself to sleep. That worked as well as it always did, and he eventually got up, tiptoeing over to his mirror. Moonlight was filtering into his room from his window, bathing him in a cold light. He always slept in a t-shirt and boxers, since that day. He breathed out as he lifted up his t-shirt, exposing his stomach. The burn stopped in the middle of his ribs, and was spread across the majority of his stomach. He reached out a tentative hand, and ran his fingertips across the bumpy surface. He couldn’t feel it. He pressed his lips into a firm line. It was hideous.

He’d tried not looking at it. He’d tried telling himself that this didn’t change him, that nothing was any different, but he didn’t believe it. Everything was different, and he hated it. He remembered his sister crying when she’d seen it, because it didn’t look like her older brother anymore. The look of sympathy from Petra’s family when he’d taken his shirt off to go swimming. It was all people saw of him. He’d gotten angry with himself too, because it _wasn’t right._ People weren’t supposed to look like this. Which was why he couldn’t be with anyone. Erwin treated him like something that needed to be protected now, not something to be loved. He didn’t think he could be loved anymore – he was…damaged goods, the stuff that gets thrown out because it can’t be used. Kissing people - that didn’t need anything but physical attraction at the time, but relationships…that needed attention and conversations, and people got closer than Levi could be comfortable with – they’d ask what happened, he’d have to talk about it, and he didn’t think he was capable of that.

There was a knock at the door, and he pulled his shirt down, going to answer it. There was no one there. He looked down the corridor, and saw a blur of a person turning down the corridor. Oh hell no. No one interrupted his self-loathing with knock and runs. He wandered down the corridor, and saw the person at the end.

She was still wearing school uniform, her hair tied loosely back into a bun, her jumper too big on her little frame. She turned back and stared at Levi before disappearing into the common room. He heard clattering about in there and he knew someone was in there already.

_Eren._

Levi jogged down the corridor and into the common room. Eren stood at the fireplace, staring at the red flames flickering in the place. Eren seemed transfixed, his eyes not budging as Levi wandered into the room. The older boy’s chest heaved with panic. He wanted to grab Eren away from there, but when he saw the flames…he felt stiff in place. It was only when Eren’s hand started outstretching towards the fire that Levi tore through the room, grabbed Eren by the collar and literally dragged him away. He marched over and filled a jug with water before walking over and extinguishing the fire. He turned to face Eren, who was sat on the floor in a state of confusion. “Did your dad not _fucking_ teach you the basics of fire safety Eren?” Levi asked, storming over and pressing his foot into Eren’s shin angrily. “Rule number one: Never _ever_ touch it! Do you want to end up with third degree burns, because I can tell you from experience, it is _not fun_!” he yelled. Eren gasped,

“I’m sorry Levi! I don’t know what happened!”

Levi laughed, “Yeah, right,” he muttered. Eren stood up,

“I’m not lying! I don’t know what was happening! According to you, we’re not allowed fires - so that shouldn’t have even happened!”

Levi stayed silent – trying out a trick his mum always used when he was being pissy. She just stayed completely silent, staring at him. Eren didn’t argue with him, just stared defiantly back. When Levi spoke again, he spoke very calmly. “You’re taking the spare bed in my room. Because obviously I can’t trust you to be on your own, now come here,” he said, dragging the little shit down the corridor to his own bedroom.


	7. Alone in the dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tummy kisses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess this'll be roughly halfway through the story???  
> Anyhoo, merry christmas everyone!!  
> I might be able to update tomorrow, but I also might not :/  
> //also as a note for TMWF (my other story) it at the minute the story covers a shit ton of drama, so it takes a lot to write, so it might just be updated monthly, maybe even less then that.

Levi always thought he was a calm person – most of the time, anyway. But he was seeing red with how angry he was with Eren. He almost kicked open the door, throwing Eren inside. “Hey! Levi! Stop!” The older boy pulled out his desk chair, sitting down and pinching the bridge of his nose. “Why?” he snapped. Eren stood up, puffing his chest like a five year old who was getting scolded.

“I _told you_ – I don’t remember! I don’t know what happened!” he yelled back. Levi shook his head, pressing his lips together. That night wasn’t any different. He didn’t know what happened…he just remembered pain, and waking up in the hospital. “Did you see a girl?” Levi asked, his voice a lot quieter.

“Hm?” Eren hummed, watching the older boy. Levi swallowed back the feeling in his throat that he got whenever he tried to talk about her.

“A girl…she’s really small…blue eyes, blonde hair, she-“

“Yeah,” Eren said quickly, “I remember her, but I don’t think I saw her, not exactly…I’m not really sure how to explain it,” he said, “but that’s impossible, because…”

“Because it was Annie Leonhardt, right?” Levi finished. He stared Eren in the face, before looking away. “I heard the story from my dad…who’s uncle was in the year above her, and when I came here I started seeing her,” he breathed out, “Erwin thought I was kidding…but she came after him too, and then I got hurt,”

“Was that her?” Eren asked. “The burn on your thigh, I mean?”

Levi sighed, nodding. “The fire flared up when I stood next to it. Severe burns to the top of my left leg, my stomach and lower ribs. I had multiple skin grafts, my dad’s still paying for procedures to lessen the scarring. But err…when I was in the hospital, I kept having this… it was like a dream, but it was far too clear for a dream?”

“What happened?” Eren asked softly, Levi shrugged.

“It was in the storage unit, but when it used to be dormitories, and I can see this blonde girl, Annie, standing by this window, and she opens it, to let some air in. And then I saw this person approach her…I think it was a boy? But it was so difficult to tell, it’s like, there was a face and a body there, but when I go to remember it, it’s just a blur. But they come up to her from behind, and they put their hands on her back…and that’s always when I woke up. I couldn’t stand to watch the end,” he explained. Eren shivered, looking away. And then he turned around, facing the opposite wall. “What is it, Eren?” Levi asked. Eren turned back around again,

“Did Erwin stay in your room?” he asked. Levi shook his head,

“No, why?”

“Both of the beds are used. I just thought it was weird,” Levi looked towards the left unused bed, and remembered the figure he’d seen sit up in it. As he looked at it now, the bed sheets were torn away messily again. Levi quickly stood up, and began rearranging them again. Once he was done, Eren yawned, blinking sleepily at the older boy. “You should get some sleep,” Levi said. Eren nodded, but didn’t move. “Well?” Levi prompted. Eren didn’t say anything, but the little side glance he did to look at the left bed was all he needed. Levi smirked, “you’re scared, aren’t you?”  Eren blushed,

“I’m not scared, but I just…”

“You just what?”

Eren shrugged, his face turning even more red. Levi shrugged, “Do you want me to use it?” The brunet nodded slowly, and Levi chuckled, “honestly – _I’m_ the one she burnt, and yet you’re more scared of her than-“

The window flung inwards, sending the notes on his desk flying across the room, and Eren scampering towards the older boy for protection. Levi quickly raced to the window, using all of his strength to get it shut. He checked the latch as he locked it again – it was a particularly stiff window, and he didn’t know that the wind was that strong. Unless…

“That wasn’t the wind, was it?” Eren asked. Levi shrugged, shutting his curtains,

“My thoughts exactly,” he murmured.

Eren was now even more jumpy than usual, and Levi felt responsible as house leader to do something about it. “So. Bed,” he reminded him. He was met in return by one long, scared stare. Levi sighed, “or would you rather we share a bed?” Eren looked down guiltily, and Levi was reminded of a particularly dopey puppy. “Come on then,” he said, kneeling down in his own bed, pulling back the covers.

“Really?” Eren asked, and Levi raised one eyebrow,

“I won’t tell if you don’t.”

 

They ended up with Levi lying on the right side, his back pressed against the wall, and Eren with his back to the other bed. Eren’s head was just off the pillow – “because pillows are really weird” – his face nearly pressed into Levi’s chest. “Is this okay?” he asked quietly. Levi hummed,

“Eren, I’m not sure how you haven’t picked this up, but it is nigh impossible to get me to do something I’m not comfortable with – really, it’s okay,” he sighed, “I must warn you, I move in my sleep quite a lot. Usually when I sleep in the same bed with someone it’s a double, so it’s usually not a problem, but…we’ll see how this turns out,” he muttered. His breathing was uneven, and he was pretty sure for once that it wasn’t Annie’s fault. It was that shitty brat.

Eren fell asleep pretty quickly – Levi was aware of his heavy breathing, and the slight whine he made when he breathed out. He dislodged his hand from its position underneath the pillow, and tentatively reached around to run his hand through Eren’s hair. The motion calmed him, and he closed his eyes, stroking Eren’s dark brown hair. Something brushed over his fingertips - cold and icy. Levi’s eyes snapped open and he came face to face with her. Her face was slightly muddy, her hair tangled and hanging down in strips across her face. The skin was taut across her bones and bluish white in colour. Her eyes were somewhat bloodshot, and were trained on Levi’s face. She was far too close for his liking, but he refused to give in to her. Refused to look away. He held Eren closer, bracing himself for a long night.

 

“Hey Eren,” Levi called, which was met by moans. “Eren, I need you to get up,” more moans followed, and Eren’s arms wrapped tighter around Levi’s waist. “Oh, okay,” Levi muttered as he was pressed closer to Eren, “But the thing is I was hoping for you to…get out, but y’know, morning hugs are totally cool too,” he sighed, wiping his tired eyes. He was far too exhausted to try and detach himself from Eren, so he just lay there. There was a knock at the door a few minutes later, and by the time Levi had called for them to let themselves in, it was too late to do anything about the position he and Eren were in.  

“Hey, Levi, Nifa just came over and-“

Petra stopped dead in her tracks, and Levi decided he had two options: show her how mortified he was and let her win, or make her feel like she was the weird one here. He’d done this numerous times before, and always succeeded in making the other person feel awkward. “Yeah, and?” he asked, his hand still caught in Eren’s hair. Petra stared at him, her eyes shifting between him and Eren – who was still completely dead to the world for the time being at least. It was a fucking miracle that he hadn’t woken up properly yet, because he would have ruined Levi’s supernatural cool for sure. “Oh um…Nifa came over with a note from Erwin…challenging us to manhunt, but if you’re…busy, we can do it another time – the, uh, manhunt I mean,” she stammered.

Levi shook his head, “no, a challenge is a challenge. Tell the others and we’ll be ready by 11 to start the game,” he murmured, staring her down.

Honestly, on the inside, Levi was practically crying with embarrassment, but somehow he managed to keep it in. “Is there something else you needed, Petra?” he asked. She shook her head, a blush forming on her cheeks.

“Ah, no, I’ll just um…leave you two…”

She closed the door, and Levi let out a massive breath he didn’t know he’d been holding, and turned back to Eren, who’s eyes were just starting to flutter open. He looked up at Levi blankly, his green eyes hazy and unfocused. “Eren you have approximately five seconds to get up before I shove your ass out of bed,”

Eren only properly woke up when he hit the floor and realised that Levi hadn’t been joking, “What was that for?!” Eren cried, sitting himself up.

“Petra just came in and saw you clinging to me, now I wonder, what exactly is she thinking? What exactly might she tell the others?” Levi said, as he got off his bed and began to make it. Eren’s eyes widened as he ran a hand through his hair. “Oh,” he whispered, and turned to look at Levi. He didn’t quite know what to say, and he felt surprisingly awkward, but he stared at Levi and couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “I’m sorry,” he said eventually, “I just…well there’s nothing we can exactly do about it now,” he said. Levi raised his eyebrows,

“What are we gunna say to them later, though?”

Eren didn’t know what to do. He liked Levi. He wasn’t quite sure if it was love in the generic sense of the word, but he did like Levi, and he did want to be with him. Even to just…see what would happen. “Is the idea that you might be dating me really that bad?” he murmured, and Levi’s face instantly softened.

“No,” he said quickly, “no, I just…” Levi ran a hand through his hair “we’re not, so I figured it just be awkward for you?” he said. Eren smiled, looking down.

“Dating you would probably be the best thing to ever happen to me,” he admitted, and Levi stopped.

“No, I don’t think so,” he said quietly, “I…I never know what to say to people, I’m not good with emotions, I get annoyed at people really easily, I find it easier to yell at someone then cry, I really hate any and all romantic gestures, I can’t stand it when things aren’t in order and I’m just…not suited for relationships,”

Eren snorted, “Nah, Levi, I’m not buying it,” he said. “Do you _honestly_ think you’re the only one with problems? And that you’re honestly unlovable? Because your parents seemed to think you were worth it when they chose make you their son. You weren’t stuck with them through genetics – you were chosen to join their family, which makes you more loved than any other child because the love they have for you isn’t forced. And I mean, yeah, you have a bit of a shit attitude, and stuff, but you know, Petra chooses to put up with you, and so does Erwin and Hanji and Mike and everyone else. They don’t have to, no one has to, and if you were that unlovable, people just wouldn’t choose to be around you, so is it really a stretch to believe that someone else might decide that you’re the special one for them?” he asked. Levi stared at him.

This was what he wanted, wasn’t it? For Eren to like him just as much as he liked him. Someone else to see him with all of the terrible qualities he possessed and to love him anyway. He gripped the left side of his stomach, staring at the younger boy. “I’m not worth it, you know,” he said.

Eren shrugged, “if you’re not worth it, I’ll walk away, but you’re worth at least a shot at this,” Levi smiled, and offered out his hand to help Eren up. The boy stood, and tentatively put his hands on either side of Levi’s face, his fingertips brushing over Levi’s soft hair. Levi let his hands trail over Eren’s wrists and up his forearms, stroking gently. “You’re really cute,” Eren muttered, pressing his lips softly just above Levi’s eyebrow.

“We’ll just see where this goes, okay?” Levi whispered, “No promises,”

“No promises,” Eren agreed, wrapping one arm around Levi’s waist, pulling him closer.

 

“Do you ever brush your hair?” Levi asked, rooting around in his draws, trying to find something.

“Uh…nah,  not really?” Eren replied, and Levi turned to glare at him. “Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked, somewhat scared.

“Because you’re a filthy idiot,” Levi snarled, and Eren laughed.

“But I’m _your_ filthy idiot,” he said. Levi smiled, still not used to that kind of response. He pulled something out of his draw, and held it up, “spare hairbrush,” he muttered, and Eren frowned,

“Why do you need a spare hairbrush?”

“One, because I am not sharing with your skanky ass,” he said, as he steadied Eren’s head and began brushing, “and two, because sometimes people like you forget their shit, and as house leader, I need to be organised,” he explained, dragging the brush roughly through the knots in his hair. “Ow…” Eren muttered, as Levi continued brushing.

“So uh, manhunt?” Eren asked as he sat down on Levi’s bed. Levi nodded, pulling away from him,

“We play it sometimes – since the campus has some big ass trees, we figured it’d be a shame not to play it. It’s a good way to get to know people, we pair up with other houses - we have an alliance with Fawcett – no one has to play if they don’t want to, so usually we have about half the school or less,” he explained briefly, pulling off his night shirt. Eren sucked in a breath as Levi turned around and started putting his new shirt on. “Does it hurt?” Eren asked, staring at Levi’s stomach.

“No, not really…I can’t feel it – I fucked up most of the nerves to be honest, though, so I don’t feel much of anything across there anymore,” he explained. Eren put his hands on the sides of Levi’s stomach, and the older boy tensed slightly as Eren’s fingers brushed across the twisted skin. “So you can’t feel this?” he asked as he pressed his lips to Levi’s skin. The older boy tangled his hands in Eren’s hair.

“Nope,” he replied.

“Tell me when you _can_ feel it then,” Eren said, trailing kisses across Levi’s stomach.

Levi smiled, continuing to brush through Eren’s hair with his fingers, enjoying the closeness, even if he couldn’t feel what Eren was doing. He felt a small tickle on the skin, “Ah, yeah,” he said, smirking, “I can feel that,” Eren looked up from what he was doing and smiled at Levi before continuing to kiss across his stomach. Levi grinned at the ticklish sensation, “C’mon,” he whispered, “we gotta go get ready for manhunt,” and he detached himself from Eren to start doing up his shirt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop whoop  
> next chapter shall be centered around the Fawcett boys!!  
> As always I hope you enjoyed and thank you for taking the time to read!


	8. All-out War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasha and Bertholdt are serious as fuck when it comes to manhunt, part I

The majority of S class were persuaded to join the game, as well as a good portion of students from other years and classes. It was nice to see how many people had turned out. Eren looked at Levi tentatively, not sure what they were supposed to do. Petra knew - that was for sure. Levi shrugged, and deliberated for a moment before taking Eren’s hand and pulling him closer. “Are you sure about this?” Eren asked under his breath, to which Levi quirked an eyebrow. “If you’re not, pull your hand away, I really don’t care,” he muttered. But the way Levi subconsciously squeezed his hand made Eren think he really _did_ care – and he cared a lot. So Eren decided to begin gently rubbing circles on the top of Levi’s thumb. Oh well – Mikasa had to find out about this one day. The faster he got it done, the better.

Petra did approach them, apparently now having collected herself together. “So, the two of you are…” she began,

“seeing if the dating thing works, yeah,” he finished. She nodded,

“How long has this been going on?”

Eren checked his watch, “About forty seven minutes, give or take,”

Petra furrowed her brows, “But you two were…you were sharing a bed?”

“That was all in the spirit of no homo,” Eren explained, smirking.

“And fear,” Levi added, “Eren was scared to sleep on his own, so-“

“Shut up, Levi,” Eren said quickly, cutting him off. The older boy smiled, squeezing Eren’s hand, pulling him closer again. P

etra nodded, “well, in that case, congratulations on your fifty minute anniversary, I’m going to walk away and tell Erwin and anyone else I can find,” she said, turning around and striding away. Eren nudged Levi with his shoulder, “Do you wanna go after her?” he asked, and Levi shrugged,

“I don’t really care either way?” Eren brought up their interlocked hands, and pressed his palm against Levi’s.

He chuckled softly, “your fingers are really short,” he laughed, “it’s so cute.” Levi looked up and saw that his fingers stopped about a centimetre and a half before Eren’s did. “I told you first day of term – no short comments,” he grumbled, and Eren laughed,

“Oh, so no special exceptions for me?” Levi bumped his shoulder with his forehead,

“Well, maybe…” Eren wrapping his arms around him, pressing his lips to the top of Levi’s head. “I really should follow Petra,” he concluded, “and you should go find your sister ‘n’ friends or something,”

Eren nodded eventually, “okay, see you later, babe,”

Levi stared at him, his brows furrowing. “ _Babe_?” he echoed, “Why am I the babe?”

“Why? What do you want to be?”

“The Captain,”

“Why not commander?” Eren asked, Levi shrugged,

“I’m not intelligent or sensible enough to be commander – Erwin would be commander, so I am captain,” he explained.

Eren laughed, “alright, see you later, _Captain_ Levi,” and he kissed him on the cheek before wandering off to find Mikasa.

 

Erwin smiled at Levi proudly as he entered the group. “So you finally made a move, eh?” he asked, patting his friend on the back.

Mike sniffed, “but honestly, don’t you think going to _bed_ with him was like…six moves?” he asked. Levi glared at him for a moment, before going to jab him in the ribs. Mike grabbed Levi’s hand as he went to dig him, deflecting the assault easily. “It didn’t happen like that. Eren was scared of sleeping on his own, so I told him he could sleep with me. Nothing happened – we weren’t even…going out then, anyway,” he explained. Hanji laughed, “I’m so proud of you, regardless!” and she pulled him into a hug.

He grumbled under his breath, “Yeah, so, are we going for the normal Fawcett and Nelson vs. Pankhurst and Churchill split?” he asked.

Erwin shrugged, “I was kinda hoping we could do Fawcett and Pankhurst this time,” he explained,

“What? So you can bring together your houses despite the friction between the two women you’re named after?” Mike asked, and Hanji shook her head,

“Nah, we were mostly thinking if we could do brain vs. brawn,”

“What? No fair. Erwin you have both. That’s really not fair,” Levi protested, and Hanji shrugged,

“We’ll just see how it goes this _one time_ , and then we’ll switch back to Nelson and Fawcett and Pankhurst and Churchill, alright?” she said. Levi shrugged,

“Fine, but me and Mike are on first, then. We’re not letting you have the tactical advantage of hunting us. Nah, you nerds can run,” he said, and Hanji and Erwin agreed that sounded fair enough.

 

Armin’s face paled when they said they were the ones to hide first. “Oh no,” he whispered, and Marco and Bertholdt turned to look at him curiously. “What’s the matter?” Marco asked, and Armin shook his head,

“I can’t run, like, at _all_. I’m one of the slowest kids in our year. I’m gunna get picked so fast,” he mumbled.

Bert shrugged, “Do you want me to carry you?”

Armin stared at him, “What?”

“Well you’re not very heavy, so I could probably run with you on my back?” Armin shook his head,

“I’ll be fine,” he muttered weakly.

“Well, regardless, me and Bert will be here to protect you from the chasers,” Marco smiled nervously, before looking at the taller boy.

“Fawcett and Pankhurst…I’m sure Reiner will join our group,” he said, and Marco nodded,

“One thing is for sure – they are going to have a hard timer bringing Mikasa down.”

Once the whistle was blown to signify the beginning of the game, Bert grabbed Armin by the arm and turned and dashed towards the woods. Armin knew Bertholdt wasn’t going at his top speed – the boy could run like a prize racehorse – but it was still the fastest Armin had ever moved in his life, and he honestly wasn’t sure how his legs were keeping up with his long strides. Marco jogged behind them, trying to find their friends from Pankhurst. “I promised Ymir I’d protect Krista with Reiner…” Bertholdt murmured as he slowed down, letting go of Armin as the smaller boy collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath, “why…would you…do that?” he panted, and Bert furrowed his eyebrows,

“you have _no_ idea how terrifying Ymir is. She made me promise to protect Krista – I don’t know why she didn’t ask Mikasa to do it, or something, but now me and Reiner have an obligation to protect her like she’s the queen.”

Marco nodded, “seems fair enough – do you know where we’re going to find Krista?”

“Me and Reiner were exploring the woods around here one lunch time and we found this cool place, I told him to go there with her. I know where we’re going, so c’mon,”

Armin had barely recovered before Bertholdt was moving again. The darker skinned boy seemed to be in full-blown survival mode. His eyes were constantly scanning their environment, his body tense. He was athletic – Hanji had forgiven him immediately for his crime against science once she’d become aware of how brilliant he was at sport. He thrust his arm out, stopping Marco in his tracks. “Those bushes over there, we need to get down fast,” he hissed, hurdling over the bush and ducking down. Marco and Armin followed suit, despite not knowing what they were hiding from. Armin was about to voice his concerns when they heard people coming down the path they had been heading down. “Hold up, Nanaba,” one voice said. Another voice sighed,

“What is it?”

“I smell something,”

Another voice sighed, “You _always_ smell something. Big deal,”

“It smells like teenage boys,”

“Mike, that’s just Levi,”

“Oh _shut up_ , Nanaba,”

“No, seriously, I can smell someone else,”

“Well I can’t see anyone else,” the third voice said. And they all became silent. Bertholdt slowly turned his head to look at Marco and Armin. His eyes were deadly serious as he mouthed something to them: _do not make a sound_. They lay in the autumn leaves, entire body tense, begging for the chasers not to find them. “There’s no one, let’s move on,” the second voice concluded.

“Sure, let’s move,” the third agreed, and then they heard footsteps moving right past the bushes they were hiding in. Armin was about to move when Bertholdt’s arm shot out across Marco, grabbing his wrist, scaring the blonde boy. Bertholdt was staring at him with a terrifying intensity as he shook his head. They waited another thirty seconds before Bert rose from his hiding spot to check the path out. “All clear,” he mumbled, and Marco and Armin joined him on the path again. One thing was for sure: Bertholdt was fucking serious about this game.

 

Somewhere else in the school woods, Sasha was acting exactly the same way, and frankly, Eren was getting scared with how serious she was; but he figured, if she could capture people like that, then that was that. “So, I saw you kissing the gremlin goodbye,” Ymir said, smiling, and Eren smirked back. “Congrats, man! Now we just gotta get Jean to say something to Marco, and we’re all set in the homosexual club,” she laughed, and Eren shrugged,

“I don’t know, recently I’ve been thinking Reiner and Bertholdt would be really good as a couple?”

Ymir nodded, “Yeah, Reiner is actually really gay for Bertholdt, but I don’t know about Bert? He’s so difficult to read, I mean like, I honestly don’t know if he’s just shy or a criminal mastermind or something,”

“I think they should at least talk about it, see what the other one honestly thinks, you know?” Eren said, and Ymir raised her eyebrows,

“What, take a leaf out of yours and Levi’s book?” Eren looked away quickly, silencing the conversation. “So? You, Reiner, Jean and Marco. Four gays in our year, and two lesbians. That’s hardly a fair distribution,”

“Three girls, actually. Mikasa’s  bisexual,” Eren said nonchalantly, and  Ymir smiled,

“Man your parents pulled the short straw – two queer kids,” she chuckled before raising her voice, “Sasha, what’re you? Straight, lesbian, bi…what?”

“I don’t know,” the ponytailed girl said, “I don’t really like the idea of having sex with anyone?”

“So what about the romantic stuff then?”

“I dunno, I guess if I love someone, I love them, who cares whether they’re a boy or a girl,” she answered, and Ymir turned to Eren.

“Is Sasha Mikasa’s type?”

“Are you seriously thinking about pairing them up?”

“I’m just curious as to see if they would be compatible or not…” Ymir defended, raising her hands, “but hey, if you-“

“Ssh!” Sasha yelled, spinning around to the two of them, “shut up! I hear people, let’s ambush them!”

They hid behind trees, away from the path. Sasha’s hand up in a fist – they’d agreed that when she thought they should attack, she would motion forward with her arm. It was a tense few moments, as the footsteps became louder. They weren’t actually sure who it was they were ambushing, but if they were Fawcett or Pankhurst – you could tell from the colour of the ties they were wearing – they would strike, regardless of whether they knew the person or not. Sasha’s eyes came off her target, and she stared at Ymir and Eren for a moment before signalling, and they all swooped in.

Sasha pushed over the boy, but Ymir stopped almost as quickly as she had begun running after hearing a shriek from the girl. “Krista?!” She asked, and the terrified blonde girl nodded. Ymir didn’t seem at all happy when she tapped Krista on the shoulder, declaring that she was now on with them too. “Oi, Sasha, get off Reiner a sec,” she said calmly as the brunette scrambled up to stand next to Krista and Eren. Ymir grabbed Reiner by the shirt collar. “Where is Bertholdt?” she spat, “I asked you two idiots to look after Krista, so where the fuck is he?”

“We were on our way to see him, when Sasha tackled me!” Reiner yelled back defensively. Eren was about to intervene when he got an idea. “Where?” he asked. Reiner stared at him questioningly, but Ymir got the idea,

“Where were you going to meet Bertholdt? Who does he have with him?”

Reiner glared at her, “I’m not going to betray my friend,”

“You’re on _our_ side now!” Ymir yelled back, “Your loyalty lies with us, not with him! Where is he headed, and who does he have with him?”

“He’s heading to a small den of trees, by the edge of a steep hill with Marco and Armin,” Reiner said bitterly, and Ymir let him go.

“C’mon, get up, you traitor – lead the way. We’re going to capture them,” she said as he got up.

“Bert won’t be caught that easily, you know,”

“Yeah, but we’re going to get him. And he’ll help us get Mikasa,” Sasha said, her eyes serious. “Nelson and Churchill will win this game.”

Eren wondered at that point if it was completely safe to be travelling with these people anymore, but he had no choice but to continue on with this hellish game.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit gets real in Part II, just sayin'.  
> Also, thank you for readings, please feel free to leave a kudos if you haven't already or a comment ^-^


	9. A Spectre in the Woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasha and Bertholdt are serious as fuck when it comes to manhunt, part II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo, look at me, actually setting up plot line!

Bertholdt’s cautiousness had meant that it took the group about ten minutes to get to the meeting place. During that time, though, they had been lucky enough to witness Mikasa leaping over the shrubbery in order to escape the kids chasing her. It was similar to watching animals hunting on national geographic, Marco had said, only this time the animal being chased was doing a damn good job escaping.

During the journey through the woods, Bertholdt had hushed them all into hiding behind some trees. “What is it?” Armin asked, as Bert peeked out from his hiding spot,

“I saw a girl,” he answered simply, his eyes searching the landscape.

He recognised the uniform the girl was wearing as the horrendously outdated black pinafore that the girls had to wear at Rose Academy. Her tie was red and black striped – a Churchill girl. She was fairly petite – probably a full foot shorter than Bert at _least_ , and her blonde hair was tied back in a loose bun. Most of her hair had already come out, hanging down across her face. She was treading absentmindedly across all of the shrubbery – she wasn’t travelling along the main path, and her feet would constantly get stuck in brambles and nettles that lined the un-walked forest floor. She came to a stop, standing completely still, the fabric of her pinafore fluttering slightly in the wind, and Bertholdt found himself overcome with a feeling of absolute repulsion and disgust. He wasn’t sure why – there was nothing about this girl that would reason for such a strong distaste for her. She stood completely frozen for a moment or two, before one pale, slender hand to pull her fringe aside, and she turned quickly to look at him. Bert was aware that she couldn’t _actually_ see him – he was too well hidden behind the trunk of the tree for that, but it felt like she was staring right at him. His breath hitched in his throat, and he stared back. “Let’s go now,” he finally said to Marco, “she’s only small. It’ll take her a while to catch up with us – we’ll be fine,” he reasoned, shooing his companions on, not breaking eye contact with the girl until he turned to head after them. He did not hear her come after them.

Reiner was leaning on a tree nearby, and Krista was sat down on the floor, both looking suitably miserable, “Did you seriously give her your blazer to sit on?” Bertholdt laughed as he approached, Reiner shrugged,

“Ymir said we should treat her like a princess, right?” he replied, and Bert smiled, going to step forward.

“Wait!” Armin called, and Bertholdt stopped. The small blonde stepped forward, giving a thumbs up – the signal they’d all agreed to use to show that they weren’t on. Reiner stared at Armin, and slowly shook his head, “I’m sorry,” he muttered, as he gave a thumbs down.

Bert gasped, “Reiner, how _could you_ …”

There was a shuffling from around them, and soon Marco, Armin and Bert were surrounded. Eren, Jean, Connie, Ymir, Sasha… they had nowhere to turn. “Jean…really?” Marco sighed, and the boy shrugged,

“I’m sorry, Marco, that’s just how the game goes,” he replied softly, “just let us tag you,”

Reluctantly, Armin and Marco put their hands in the air, but Bert stood his ground.

“C’mon, Bert,” Sasha said, “don’t make this harder than it has to be,”

“No, I refuse,” he said, and before anyone was completely aware of what was happening, Bert sprinted at top speed at Sasha and Ymir, and then turned and darted past Jean and Connie. Eren was the first to start pursuing Bertholdt as he ran, but it wasn’t long before they could barely see the tall boy as he sped through into the trees. “C’mon,” Reiner said, “he’s heading straight to the hill’s drop off, we can trap him there again,” and the group – now joined by Marco and Armin – began chasing.

Bertholdt was barely able to stop himself skidding off the edge, and he turned around to see his friends surrounding him like a pack of hungry wolves. “Just give it up, Bertl,” Eren said, smiling, “there’s nowhere to run,” Bertholdt looked back over the edge of the hill, shaking his head. He’d die if he tried running down that at any great speed, and he was pretty sure he’d be running straight off school property anyway. He stared around at all of them as they shook their heads, smiling.

Jean wasn’t completely clear on how it all went down. But Bertholdt put his hands up, cracking a smile himself, “alright, alright,” he said, taking a step back, now standing right on the edge of the hill top, “I give up,” that was when Jean had looked down, and he saw a hand emerge from the drop off the cliff. The fingers were chapped, raw and bruised, and they locked around Bert’s ankle. It was an utterly bizarre thing, and Jean didn’t know what to do. He thought for a moment, he might have been hallucinating – the hill was a complete drop off. No one could have been lying like that on the slope.

But then the hand pulled, and Bertholdt fell backwards with a cry, plummeting down the hillside. Reiner was the first to act, jumping down the hillside after him. “Bertholdt!” Marco was second, sliding down after him. Jean stood panicked for a minute. The hand. He gasped, feeling uneasy all over. That was when they’d heard the scream. It was desperate, panicked and full of absolute hopelessness. It sounded like a wild animal of some sort, echoing through the woods. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks as the sound resonated a few more times, before silencing. Sasha shivered, jumping down the banks after Marco. “Was that Bertholdt?” Eren breathed, and Connie shook his head,

“Something tells me it wasn’t,” he mumbled.

After that they did hear Bert cry out, and they stumbled to the edge of the banks to see him lying on his front, Reiner, Marco and Sasha all trying to help him up. “I can’t watch this,” Ymir said, sliding down on her side, getting her pinafore hopelessly muddy. Reiner tried to get Bertholdt to stand, putting a hand on his shoulder. The boy cried out, gritting his teeth, his hands clenching. “C’mon, Bert, we need to get you up,” he said, and the boy closed his eyes, “I can’t, Reiner,” he whimpered. Ymir bit her lip,

“Oi! One of you up there! Go get Hanji or Levi or someone!” She shouted, and Jean and Eren nodded,

“Wait here,” they said to the others, running off into the woods.

 

“Where the fuck are they? Why is there no way to stop the game quickly?” Jean said, as they ran around the woods.

“LEVI! HANJI!” Eren screamed as they ran about, “they have to be around here somewhere,” he reasoned.

Jean shook his head, “We should have never played this game. God, what do you thinks wrong with Bert? What happened to him?”  He was talking fast, and Eren had a hard time  properly understanding what he was saying.

“He’s probably just in shock…he’ll be okay,” Eren said firmly. “LEVI!”

“How do you know for certain?”

“Because he’s breathing and talking and hasn’t passed out,”

Jean shook his head, slowly down. The image of that hand wrapped around Bert’s handle was still replaying in his mind. “And what was that scream?”  he mumbled. Eren gritted his teeth,

“I don’t know, but we have to keep looking for help,”

They were calling out again, searching for anyone to help them, “We need to find them _now_ ,” Jean hissed angrily, rubbing his face with his hands. “Hey, you two, did you hear that noise?” They heard from further up the path. They looked up to see Erwin, Hanji, Nifa and Moblit all stood, staring at them curiously.

“Erwin! Hanji! We need your help! Now!” The two older students furrowed their eyebrows,

“Eren, what’s wrong?”

“One of our friends fell down the banks! He can’t get up!” Jean explained, and Erwin turned around to Nifa, who was standing behind him,

“Nifa, go find a teacher – also, tell anyone you meet on your way that the game is over,” he said, and the girl nodded once, before running off.

“C’mon Eren,” Hanji urged, and her, Erwin and Moblit followed them as they ran back.

 

Bert was even worse when they returned. He still hadn’t been able to sit up, and it looked like the pain was only getting worse. There was nothing anyone could do. “He’s probably broken something,” Armin said as Hanji arrived, “But we don’t want to move him…because we don’t know what’s broken.”

Hanji only took one look down the slope and gasped, “Moblit, come on and help me,” she said firmly, sliding down the slope. “Bertholdt, hey, hey, calm down, okay? It’s Hanji,” she said, her voice calm and even. “Can you tell me and Moblit where it hurts the most?”

“My shoulder…” he gasped.

“Which shoulder?”

“The left one,”

“Okay, so we’re going to make sure we don’t touch your shoulder then. Does anywhere else hurt?”

“No,” Bert gritted his teeth.

“Alright then! Well, Moblit’s gunna help you onto your back, okay, and then after that we’re going to sit you up, and by then I’m sure Nifa will have found teachers to help you, and then we’ll get you back up the hill and have you checked out. Does that sound like a plan?” Hanji was smiling, her voice cheerful and chirpy. Bertholdt nodded weakly. “Okay! Let’s go! Tell us if anything hurts, or you feel any worse, got it?” She said, nodding to Moblit as he began to roll Bertholdt over.

Eren frowned, “I don’t understand how she can be so happy,” he muttered. Erwin shrugged,

“She’s not happy, she’s actually really scared for Bertholdt, I think,” he said, “but if she acts scared, than that’ll panic him more, so if she acts happy and cheerful then he’ll start to calm down right?”

Eren nodded, “I suppose,”

“Hanji wants to become a doctor when she’s older – she’s always had a great bedside manner. When Levi got hurt she stayed with him and soothed him whilst she was doing what she could to his wound. It’s really quite amazing how good she is at this stuff already,” he said, smiling slightly.

“Whoa, Bert! That’s amazing! You’re on your back, so that’s most of it out of the way! Now all we need to do is get you to sit up!”

“How did this happen, anyway?” Erwin asked, staring at Eren.

“He slipped, I think. We cornered him here, and he just fell,” he explained. Erwin nodded,

“Teachers should be arriving soon,” he said finally. “When Bertholdt’s been taken to hospital, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”

 

Paramedics were on the scene pretty fast, managing to walk Bert over to the ambulance. Hanji suspected his collarbone was probably broken. The game was called off, and all of the house leaders (and Eren) ended up in Erwin’s room. Levi was right – it _was_ a nice room. It was bigger than the other bedrooms, with nicer furniture, cleaner paintjob and didn’t smell so much of damp. Eren vowed to himself that he was going to become head boy when he got to year thirteen. “So, would someone like to explain why we’re all here?” Mike asked, and Erwin nodded.

“It’s just a theory of mine. But Levi, your great-uncle went to this school, and was in the same year as Annie Leonhardt, right?”

Levi nodded in reply.

“And Eren’s grandfather, too?”

“Yeah, he went here,”

Erwin pressed his lips in a firm line. “What about Bertholdt Fubar?”

“…Yeah. His grandpa was in the same year as mine was,” Eren’s eyebrows furrowed,

“Mhm. My great aunt was here, too. Year above yours, though,” Erwin paced over to his desk, “So, Levi’s great uncle was here, your grandfather, and Bertholdt’s grandfather. Levi ended up burned, and Bertholdt’s in the hospital,” he mumbled. Mike shook his head,

“You don’t think…”

“I don’t know, yet. Who else had family in Annie’s year?”

“Um…Reiner, and Marco…I don’t know anyone else,” Eren admitted. Erwin’s fingers brushed against the photo album, flicking through to find the page he needed. “Well, if you could find out if anyone else is, that would be appreciated,” he said finally.

Mike stood up, “Why, Erwin? What do you think is going to happen?”

“Yeah, if I need to protect my house from any other accidents, I want in,” Hanji agreed.

“Well…if you were pushed, from behind, and killed, wouldn’t you want to know why you died? Or who killed you? Wouldn’t you be angry? Anyone who knew you could become a suspect. Your anger is focussed on everyone, and as time goes on, your chances are desperate, so even family might become a target.”

Levi shook his head, “You think Annie’s still angry?”

Erwin nodded, “I’m afraid so,”

“So whatever, how do we stop this? From what Eren said, two people in my house are in possible danger, and I’d like to know how to stop it,”

Erwin smiled, looking up at his friends. “Why don’t we try asking Annie herself?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the chapter!!  
> If you want, feel free to leave a kudos or a comment ^-^


	10. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Learn more about Eren and Levi's families.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aha! Plot is finally moving into motion!!  
> Happy new year to you guys, by the way!

Eren ended up back in Levi’s bedroom that night. “I can’t believe Erwin suggest using an Ouija board,” the older boy grumbled, undoing his tie. “Yeah, he didn’t seem to be the type who’s into that sort of stuff?” Eren mumbled behind him, slipping out of his school jumper.

“That’s not what I’m getting at, Eren,” Levi said firmly, “what I meant was doing something like that is fucking reckless and dangerous, and the fact he’s suggesting a bunch of kids play with it…it’s stupid,”

Eren shrugged, pulling his school shirt off and replacing it with a sleep shirt (he figured the first official night of the relationship was not the time to be sleeping in underwear). “Well…Bert broke his collarbone, man. He’s gunna be in the hospital until tomorrow, and he’s gunna be recovering for six weeks after – I think Annie’s pretty ticked right now if she’ll do that to someone as gentle as him. Can we even make it any worse?”

Levi paused, “well compared to a permanent scar that effects the way you can move and live the rest of your life, a broken collarbone seems relatively minor,” he said quietly. Eren wrapped his arm around Levi from behind,

“Well… we have to do something, or it’s only going to get worse. Yeah, there’s a risk that it might not go well, but it also might make the situation better,” he said softy, his mouth close to Levi’s ear. “And besides, you’re not the one who has to convince your classmates to join in with Ouija. How the fuck am I supposed to do that exactly?”

Levi sighed, running his fingers over Eren’s arm, “Well, after we find out what the bitch wants – if it is revenge, what are we supposed to do? Find out who the murderer was? How’re we supposed to do that?”

“We’ll find a way,” Eren told him firmly. “And we’ll make this better, so when Isabel comes here, she won’t have to deal with this shit.”

Levi pressed his lips in a firm line, “Just get into bed, brat,”

They didn’t end up sleeping. Instead, they ended up sitting opposite each other on the bed, their legs intertwined. “So, what sorta school did you go to before?” Levi asked, resting his elbows on his knees.

“Eh, just an average high school. My mum wasn’t really into private schooling,” he explained.

“What made her change her mind?”

Eren shook his head, smiling softly, “she didn’t. She died when I was ten,”

“Oh,” was all Levi could say in response. He was never exactly sure what to say in a situation like that. The first year he met Erwin, his father had been involved in an accident. Erwin had missed school for two weeks, and even when he did come back, he was completely distraught. Levi hadn’t been able to say or do anything, it was Hanji and Mike who had helped Erwin. Levi had been fortunate enough to never lose somebody close to him to death, but it also rendered him completely useless when it came to someone who had. “Yeah, and after  she died I just got so angry. Because it’s easier than just crying, right? Being angry at how unfair it all is – that my mum had to be the one to die. Obviously my grades started slipping because of that, so, my dad decided that was it. The only way I could get my learning back on track – to have the best chance in life, like my mum wanted – was to get me into this school. So huzzah, here I am,” Eren waved his hands in the air, and smiled at Levi. He leaned over the bed, fiddling around with his trousers, pulling his phone out of his pocket. He fiddled around for a little bit, before handing it to Levi. “This is my family,” he said.

There was a selfie on the screen, the camera being held by a woman with long dark brown hair pulled over her shoulder, her head resting against the head of a man with glasses. Between the two of them was a smaller boy with a mop of unruly brown hair, who looked just like the woman. He was grinning madly, his arm thrown around the Asian girl next to him, who had a small trace of a smile on her lips. “That you as a ten year old, huh?” Levi asked, and Eren nodded, “you look a lot like your mum,” he commented. Eren nodded,

“What about your family?” he asked as Levi handed his phone back.

“Don’t expect me to look anything like my parents,” he muttered, pulling his own phone out. Eren laughed, as Levi found a picture. “Jack’s the one taking it, so he’s not in the picture. My mum’s on the left,” he said.

The picture Eren was looking at showed three individuals huddled together in the centre of the shot. The scene around them was white with snow, and in the background was a large building. “Shit, your house is massive,” Eren muttered, staring at the figures in the picture. Levi was wearing all black – no surprise there, and his arm was wrapped around a smaller girl who stood in front of him, her choppy red hair tied up in bunches. The woman who stood beside them had thick wavy black hair, her arms around both of her children. “You look a lot like your mum, considering you’re adopted,” Eren commented, handing Levi back his phone,

“Yeah, when they took me in they wanted me to at least look like I could be theirs, but they sorta gave up with Isabel,”

“Why’d you call your dad Jack?” Eren asked suddenly, and Levi paused.

“What?”

“You call your mum that, but you call your dad Jack?”

“Did I?” he muttered, “It gets sort of confusing – I’ve never had a mum before, so it’s easy, but I had a dad before I was adopted which makes it harder to accept Jack. I got nothing against the man, Kenny just got there first.” Eren began stroking thoughtfully along Levi’s leg,

“Tell me about him,” he spoke softly.

“Kenny? He said he found me in a bin in the public toilets on Christmas – said I was a Christmas curse for him, but he took me because he assumed anyone who would put their kid in a bin didn’t want it – sorta like finders keepers? Anyway he took me, raised me, taught me how to fight. I helped him out with his…work, that sort of stuff,” Levi recalled. Eren smiled,

“What happened to him?”

“Prison now,” Levi said quickly. “My parents aren’t too fond of me visiting him, so I don’t see him very often,”

“What, do your parents let you see him on your birthday or?”

“Nah,” he shook his head, smiling slightly, “my parents don’t know I go see Kenny. But Erwin’s mum is super cool and takes me sometimes,”

Eren laughed at that, “God your family is so weird,” and then he yawned, “We should be getting to bed,” he said finally.

 

Levi didn’t sleep. He was still worried about what Erwin wanted to do – dragging other people into this. He looked at Eren as he slept, and kissed him on the top of his head before slowly pulling out of his bed. He tried to make as little sound as he pattered over to the door, opening it, and wandered down the corridor. He made his way through the common room quickly, and was halfway down the walkway between Nelson and Pankhurst, he heard the door behind him swing open.

It was against school policy to be up and out past the common room after ten. Sometimes the teachers would walk through – to check whether students were about or not. “Please not _now_ ,” he whispered, pressing himself against a corner in the wall. The corridor was so dark he prayed his slight frame would mean whoever it was wouldn’t see him. He pressed himself face first against the wall and held his breath.

He could hear the person’s footsteps echoing down the hall, the swishing of fabric as they walked briskly. They were approaching the corner fast, and he pressed himself a little bit closer to stop himself from being spotted. At the turn between the two corridors, the person stopped. Levi felt for sure he’d been caught, but the person didn’t say anything. Didn’t move. Levi wasn’t even sure they were breathing, and he was having trouble holding his breath. He felt for sure they would take him if he so much as breathed out. He squeezed his eyes shut, clenching his fingers into a fist, begging for them to just leave already.

Soon after that, they continued waking down the corridor, although Levi didn’t hear the door to Pankhurst’s wing open. And when he looked down the corridor ahead of him, he couldn’t see the person who he’d just come into contact with.

He didn’t even knock when he entered Erwin’s room. The blonde boy was sat at his desk, a small pile of books next to him. “What the fuck are you doing now, Erwin?”  he asked, sitting down on his bed.

“Research. I asked my mum to send me my great aunt’s yearbook, and I borrowed a spare from the library too,” he answered quickly.

“What’re you looking for? Your great aunt to have written ‘sorry I pushed you’ underneath Annie’s picture?” Levi murmured, lying back. Erwin’s bed was fucking massive – he and two other people could probably sleep comfortably there. “Potentially, yes. Can you ask your dad if he still has your grandfather’s? I’ll ask the others to do the same, once we find all of the people who have family here,” he said quickly, turning the page. Levi sighed, rubbing his eyes with the palm of his hands. “You’re not seriously trying to reopen the case of Annie Leonhardt, are you?” he muttered quietly.

“Not officially, no,”

“God, Erwin, you’re going to get people hurt with-“

“People already are hurt. It’s nothing but idle curiosity on my behalf. If it goes nowhere, it goes nowhere, no harm done.” Erwin snapped.

Levi sat up on the bed, watching his friend’s back as he read. “What do you think will happen if you do find the murderer?”

Erwin stopped. He looked at Levi briefly over his shoulder, “I’m not sure,” he said finally. “Do you really think there is a murderer? And if there is – what happens if they’re among the families of our friends?”

“Well it’s hardly their fault that their family killed someone,”

“But their whole existence only happened because they got away with murder. Their entire life is connected with this.”

Levi frowned, “shut the fuck up, Erwin. I can’t handle you getting philosophical with me,” he muttered, and Erwin laughed, flicking to the next page of the book. “Oh,” he said, his laughter falling silent.

“What is it?” Levi pressed, standing up from his seat on the bed. Erwin marked the page he had been on and moved over to the pile of books on his desk, his fingers brushing down the spines of the books, looking for something. He pulled out a photo album – the school photos from 1930-1940. He found the page he was looking for, and began looking between the two pages. “Looks like Bertholdt, Marco, Eren, Reiner’s family and another girl were all very good friends,” he commented, showing Levi the book.

Three boys, two girls sat on the grass – he recognised the English block in the background, realising they were sat on the sports field. One of the boys had a fairly similar face shape to the man he’d seen in Eren’s photograph. The other two boys weren’t that recognisable – one of them was exceedingly tall like Bert, though. The girls were sat together at the side of the group, one of them with wavy dark hair and freckles, and the other one with dark hair but surprisingly light eyes. “The unfamiliar girl is called Frieda Reiss, apparently,” Erwin added, and Levi nodded,

“I’ll ask Eren to see if anyone’s related to her,”

“I need to ask these guys to see if their parents can send them the yearbooks especially. I think they might be good to look at,”

“Do you have any idea what we’re even looking for?” Levi mumbled.

“Well, people who witnessed it from their English classroom say they might have seen a dark haired boy, but that was too vague. Police tried investigating the lead, but they couldn’t find any evidence to support it,”

“So why bother looking for Frieda Reiss if it was a boy?” Levi asked, and Erwin stared at her,

“Friends influence friends to do things they might regret. A boy might have pushed her, but anyone could have planned it,” he spoke calmly, but Levi could tell he was invested in this case already. He wasn’t letting up now – there was no escape when Erwin was interested.

“I have to get back, I left Eren in my room,” he explained, and Erwin raised one eyebrow,

“Oh, how trustful you are of him already,” he commented smugly, Levi hit him in the arm.

“He’s asleep, it’s not like he can destroy anything.”

“Yeah, go back to him before you eat your words,” Erwin smiled at him, turning back to note something down in his notebook.

“Actually go to sleep, okay?”

“You too, Levi,”

“Yeah yeah, whatever, goodnight,”

“Don’t let the bedbugs bite,” Erwin added quietly as Levi shut his door, heading back to the walkway.

 

He made sure to keep the noise down, and cautiously checking the hallways before making his way down, he turned the corner, before stopping himself. The door to Nelson’s dorm was open slightly, and girl holding it open, she turned to stare at him, using her freehand to brush his light blonde fringe back. Annie. He curled his hands into fists, slowly making his way down the corridor towards her. She waited for a moment or two before disappearing into the dormitory, the skirt of her pinafore fluttering behind her. She was gone by the time Levi made his way into his own dorm.

Eren was still asleep when he got back to the room, but his eyes fluttered open when Levi sat down on the mattress, “Levi…?” he asked sleepily. The older boy ran a hand through Eren’s hair,

“Yeah, brat?” he whispered back,

“Where’d you go?” Eren rested his lap in Levi’s lap, shutting his eyes again,

“To take a shit, now go back to sleep,”

“’Kay,” Eren sang, snuggling back up, using his lap as a pillow. The older boy sighed, reaching for his book on the nightstand, waiting for morning to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this far in my story <3  
> Feel free to leave a kudos if you enjoyed and a comment if there's anything you want to say!


	11. Firsts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erwin is a fucking nerd  
> and no Annie for a chapter hallelloo

Levi grumbled, shifting his position. He and Erwin were sat on a small patch of grass, just in front of the history department. Well, Erwin was sitting - Levi was using Erwin’s lap as a pillow, his book held out in front of him. “Urgh, I can’t read anymore,” he moaned, flicking the pages of the book like a fan.

“What’re you reading?” Erwin asked, not lifting his eyes from his own book.

“ _Pride and Prejudice_ , the book’s text is so fucking small, though…I’m bored. I’m taking a break,”

“Should you really be doing that?” Erwin asked as Levi rolled onto his back, looking up at the blond boy.

“I’ve already read this chapter, I’m just rereading it again in our free. Anyway, you aren’t even working, you’re reading the god damn yearbook again,” Levi pointed out, and Erwin shrugged,

“I already read the book last night,” he muttered, flicking the page. Levi groaned, resting his book on his chest,

“Who reads the book in one night? You’re such an insidious nerd, holy fuck,” he moaned, and Erwin quirked an eyebrow,

“Says the English prefect,”

“Yeah and I didn’t even read the book in one night – that shows you how much of a fucking nerd you are,” he argued, Erwin shrugged,

“I’m a fast reader, what did you want me to do? Hey, do you want me to tell you the end to Doctor Faustus so you don’t have t-“

“ _No_ Erwin, stop,”

Erwin smirked, letting himself fall silent at that. They heard a sigh from above them, and looked up to see Mike as he slumped his bag beside them, sitting down, “Levi why are you resting in Erwin’s lap?” he asked tiredly, slouching immediately.

“His thighs are amazingly comfortable,” Levi murmured, and Mike rolled his eyes,

“Shouldn’t you do that with Eren and not Erwin?”

Levi lifted his head a little bit, and glared at him, “Oh yeah, I’m just going to walk into Eren’s history class to use his legs as a pillow? Nah, not gunna happen when I have someone as comfy as Erwin right beside me,” he answered, and Erwin nodded, flipping the next page.  

“Anyway, it’s only platonic lap sharing, so it’s not like it goes behind Eren’s back,” he agreed. Mike just sighed, asking them if they were prepared for English.

“How’s the boy from Hanji’s house doing?” Mike asked eventually, and Levi sighed, itching his head,

“He’s okay now – getting out of hospital today, and they said just to take it easy for a little while. He should be alright,”

Erwin shook his head slightly, “Do you think it was just an accident?” he asked, rubbing his face tiredly. Levi frowned,

“Eren didn’t say anything about it _not_ being an accident,” he said, and Erwin shrugged.

“It’s ridiculous, isn’t it? How many people would believe us? Would you, if she hadn’t put you in the hospital?” Levi clenched his jaw at the mention, but continued staring at Erwin. “It’s a losing battle. The only ones who will believe us are probably too scared to help, and everyone who could help doesn’t believe in her,” he sighed. Levi and Mike looked at each other momentarily, sharing a look of worry over their friend’s dread and slight paranoia, before Mike clapped a hand onto Erwin’s shoulder. “Please actually go to sleep tonight,” he murmured, and the blonde boy looked up, “I got sleep last night. Just not a lot of it,” he replied, going back to scanning his book.

They stayed like that for a little while, studying together (by the end of it, though, Levi was fully aware Erwin probably wouldn’t be fully conscious for the entirety of English) when the bell went, notifying them their free was over. Levi was just starting to arrange his books, and put his blazer back on when he heard the door to the history block opening, and students pour out. Among the mass of sound, he heard one clear shout, “Levi!”

“Uh oh, boy toy alarm,” he heard Mike whisper, sniggering a little bit. Levi kicked him in the ankle, pulling his stuff up into his arms, walking towards the voice. “Eren,” he called back as cheerfully as he could. In all honestly, it wasn’t cheerful at all – only Levi could hear the change of tone that he insisted was there. The younger boy smiled giddily, hooking his stuff up into his arms again, pulling to the side of the river of students to talk to Levi. “Sweetie, I’d love to talk but I have to go to English,” he said quickly, and Eren nodded,

“That’s fine – I’m on my way to English, too!” he declared, and Levi just shrugged as he turned to walk back towards the English block. “So err, _I’m_ the one the pet names are for now? I’m sweetie?” Eren asked, falling into step with Erwin and Levi.

“Why, what would you rather I call you?” Levi retorted, smirking a little bit. Eren smiled, thinking to himself.

“What about…cadet?” he asked, and Levi nodded.

“So we’re back to that, then?”

“Of course, captain,” Eren smiled, knocking against Levi lightly. Erwin stared at them out of the corner of his eyes, and Levi just shook his head slightly at him. “Also…I was asking around this form time for anyone who knows a Frieda Reiss,” Eren continued, and both of the older boys turned to look at him, “There’s a girl in my class – Krista, and-“

“Krista Lenz – although her actual name is Historia, yeah, she’s in my house. Her grandmother is Frieda?” Erwin confirmed, and Eren nodded,

“she said her dad would look for Frieda’s book next time he visits,” he explained and Erwin nodded. “Also, you’ve officially peaked Jean, Ymir and Reiner’s curiosity, and they wanna know more about Annie,” he continued, “so…I hope that’s okay,”

“That’s fine, Eren, thank you. I’m still sorting out myself what to do about her, but they’ll be welcome to help with whatever I decide in the end,” Erwin spoke firmly, coldly, marching forwards through the corridor. If there hadn’t been such a pile up in the corridors, Eren thought for sure he’d be walking so fast neither him nor Levi would be able to keep up. “Don’t mind him,” Levi whispered, “he just gets really worked up over stuff – he’s happy, really,” Eren just nodded in response, breathing out softly. Levi bit his lip, “Do you want to go for a walk after lessons are finished? I can show you more of the grounds,” he offered and Eren nodded,

“Sounds cool,” he chirped before splitting off into his own classroom.

“Captain? Cadet? Do you have a kink that I shouldn’t ask about?” Erwin asked, and Levi rolled his eyes,

“It’s an in-joke, don’t worry,”

“Jeez, in-jokes already, you’re practically already married,” he mumbled, Levi bumping into the side of him.

“Hey now, don’t be a jealous bitch,”

“I’m not a jealous bitch,” Erwin shot back, and Levi rolled his eyes,

“You sound like a jealous bitch,” he returned, and Erwin raised his eyebrows,

“It was a joke, Levi, never mind,” he muttered, entering the classroom.

The two of them sat together at the back of the class – the teacher didn’t really mind them doing that. They did talk a lot, but they got the work done, and they got it done well, so she couldn’t actually separate them. That meant when they’d been given a selection of quotes to find, Erwin started the conversation back up again. “Eren’s fourteen, right?” he asked, and Levi shook his head quickly.

“He’s fifteen,” he said quickly.

“You sound so offended,” Erwin scoffed, “Like ‘Erwin what the fuck are you thinking? I have _standards_ ,’” Levi nudged his arm into Erwin’s hand slightly, causing him to draw a line across his page.

“Why are you talking about my boyfriend-thing?”

“Your boyfriend-thing? Levi, he is still a person,”

“Yes, but we’re just seeing how dating goes, so he’s not my boyfriend…”

Erwin flicked his eyes up to stare at Levi, “you’re friends with benefits,”

Levi nearly choked, “ _no_ , no we are most definitely not. He’s fifteen – he’s not even fucking legal,”

Erwin sighed, “That’s why I was asking how old he was – you do realise by your birthday, you’re going to be an adult, and he’s still a child. What’re you gunna do about that?”

Levi ran a hand through his hair, “Erwin it’s fucking early October. Do you really think I’ve thought about things that far in the future? I don’t even know what university I want to go to yet,” he grumbled.

“Do you like Eren?” Erwin asked after a pause. Levi stopped, his head on the desk.

Eren Jaeger. A fifteen year old kid held back a year who struggled in physics and maths, but still tried his best. He went to the teachers for help in lunch breaks if he didn’t understand the homework, he was diligent when Petra called him out to practise. He was dedicated to his work, and Levi knew that was probably because of his mother. He understood that: Kenny had tried so hard to give him the best chance in life – he willingly handed him over to foster care when the time came. Even further back than Kenny – Levi wanted to make his biological mother proud. He’d never known her, but he hoped maybe he could find her one day, and make her proud of the child she threw away. He wanted to prove so badly he was better than the trash she treated him as. He saw the same in Eren – that Eren could become what his mother wanted him to be. He wasn’t always graceful, he didn’t always say the right things, or do the most intelligent things, and he had a temper, and a bad one at that. But he was genuine. Everything he did, he put his heart and soul into it.  Just looking at Levi, he had such an honest, caring look in his face, and he knew that Eren wanted to make their relationship work and would do everything it took to make Levi happy. And just that itself _did_ make Levi happy. He’d never had someone who doted on him like that, who was so fun and interesting. He wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but he was enough. He was all that was necessary.

“Yes,” Levi said finally, not taking his head off the desk, “I think it could work between us,” he added softly. Erwin patted him on the shoulder lightly, not saying anything, but Levi knew that was his form of encouragement. “He’s your first, right?” Erwin asked eventually, and Levi nodded, refusing to bring his head up until he could banish that ridiculous blush on his face.

 

“Levi,” Eren moaned, the older boy just keeping his grip on his wrist firmer,

“Whining is for babies,” he simply said, shutting Eren up. He was taking him closer to the edge of the campus – near to the woodland, but not daring to go in. It wasn’t just Bert’s accident that had put people off the woods – everyone included in the game had denied making that screaming sound, but everyone had definitely heard it. And they stayed away. Levi had decided it was best to do the same – no good coming face to face with the screaming woman of the woods. “It’s cold,” Eren groaned, and Levi rolled his eyes,

“You’re going to do so well when it gets closer to Christmas,” he muttered. Eren nodded,

“Well at Christmas I just stay inside and don’t move. I’m okay with that,” Levi looked down. Erwin had brought up an issue he hadn’t even thought about yet.  Levi let go of his hand and turned around, “So you wouldn’t visit me over the break?” he asked. Eren furrowed his brows,

“I mean…if you want me to, of course I would,” he said.

“Of course I would want you to,” Levi said softly, “it’s…my birthday is on Christmas,” he turned away, tried to make it seem like he didn’t really care. Eren gasped, “Seriously? Well, in that case of course I’ll come, if your parents let me!” he cried, putting his hands on Levi’s arms softly. He knew Eren was being gentle because there was so much they didn’t know about each other - the limits of each other’s comfort, but he didn’t want Eren to have to be gentle. He took his hands and pulled them around him, so Eren was cradling him. Levi leaned back into his arms, Eren’s head resting on his shoulder. “What’s it like having a Christmas birthday?” he asked.

Levi smiled, “I get my presents a week early, because Isabel gets pissy that I get more presents. I also get to pick Christmas dinner, because I don’t want to eat normal roasts, how fucking boring is that? We get pizza or something instead,” Levi turned his head a little bit, “when’s your birthday?”

“30th of March, boring as shit. Not as interesting as Christmas for sure,” he replied quietly. Eren looked at Levi, smiling. Levi leaned towards him, pressing his lips against Eren’s. The younger boy’s breath hitched, but he pressed back, and that relieved Levi a bit. He relaxed his shoulders, letting one hand tentatively reach up to stroke Eren’s hair. His hair was soft and so was his lips. It was only a quick kiss, before their lips were separated, but Levi just stared at Eren’s lips, his fingers tugging on his hair, pulling him closer to kiss again. Eren’s hands lowered, clasping on Levi’s hips. The kiss was soft, slow, and purposeful, and they were in control. After a longer moment, Levi pulled away, nuzzling against Eren softly. “Wow,” the younger boy breathed, “that was…”

“What?” Levi purred, kissing Eren’s jaw.

“My first proper kiss,” he said, swaying the two of them from side to side. Levi nodded. That was right. Eren was younger, more innocent. Levi was Eren’s first ‘proper’ relationship (of course Levi would never admit Eren was his first relationship too). “Well, it certainly won’t be your last,” he murmured, turning around, pressing his hands to Eren’s chest for a moment, running his fingers down his coat for a moment or two, before pulling him closer by the lapels, kissing him stronger this time.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this took so long to update, school started back again and my Religion & Philosophy teacher is being really horrible ;_;  
> Anyway, if you enjoyed, feel free to leave a comment/kudos!!


	12. Accusation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie finally speaks.

They managed to break apart, and continue their walk around the campus. “Let’s stop here,” Levi said, turning a corner around the technology block. Eren gasped, “You’re shitting me, this school has a fucking pond too?” he muttered.

Levi nodded, “Yup, and as you can see, it’s quite popular with the art students. If you’re stuck for ideas on what to draw, the teachers just tell you to sit here and sketch.” There was a small collection of people sat around the edges, sketchbooks resting on their knees - some of them with cameras out, taking pictures across the water. “How many people fall in?” Eren asked, squeezing Levi’s hand.

“Not many, actually. It’s big, Eren, and it is also very fucking deep and no one knows how bad the pondweeds are underneath, so everyone makes sure to be careful not to trip, and you’ll be wise too to make sure you don’t become the first to slip,” he warned, finding a bench to sit on.

“Yo, Eren, and house leader,” they heard from in front of them, and Eren looked to see two girls sat a little closer to the water. One of them had turned around, smiling at the two boys. “Freckles,” Levi greeted, crossing his legs, pulling an arm around Eren’s shoulders.

“What’re you doing here?” The brunet asked, before Ymir decided to return Levi’s nickname for her with something ruder.

“Oh, Krista here is working on her art project, so I thought I’d come along and work on my German for a bit,” she said, putting her arm around the small blonde next to her. Levi nodded, itching the back of his head. Eren turned to look at him, “Doesn’t the back of your head get cold?” he asked, his hand brushing over the grains of Levi’s undercut. “Well, Eren, you see there is a thing called a scarf,” he replied, and the brunet laughed,

“When did you decide you were going to shave off part of your hair?”

“This summer just gone,” Levi replied, “Hanji’s birthday is early September, so she had a party thing in the summer, and we all went on a trip: Hanji, me, Moblit, a couple friends from other schools, a bunch of people really. And we decided at like 2 AM it would be a great idea to just shave off a lot of our hair, and give ourselves undercuts. So Erwin just grabs a razor and we get through me, him, Mike, this guy called Nile, Moblit didn’t want to, we cut Nanaba’s hair off – she used to have waist length hair before that day. We trimmed Petra’s hair too, before she wimped out. And we got halfway through shaving Erwin’s friend Marie’s hair, before Hanji’s mum came in and was like ‘no, stop you idiots’. God, it was hilarious. Hanji was kinda ticked because she wanted to shave off her hair, but that’ll have to wait ‘til next summer’s bad decisions,” he explained. Eren stared at him in disbelief, not sure whether to laugh or cry, “What happened to the girl who you got halfway through?”

“Marie? Oh she’s kinda rocking a half shaved look now - like Natalie Dormer,”

“Bet she wasn’t impressed with Erwin doing that to her,” Eren said, shifting closer to Levi,

“Nah, she’s actually pretty okay with it,” he responded, “to be honest…Erwin and Marie are kind of an adorable couple,” Eren frowned,

“I thought Erwin was gay?” he asked, furrowing his brows.

“He’s bisexual. Has a massive crush on Marie, although he’ll never admit it,”

“Aww, why doesn’t he just say he likes her? Seriously, I’m sure she wouldn’t turn him down,”

“He thinks that Nile has a crush on her and therefore refuses to fuck his friend over by dating her when he knows Nile’s feelings,” Levi explained, kicking his feet in the air. It was almost embarrassing for him, not being able to touch the floor when he was sat next to Eren who could keep both his feet on the floor, but that was it – almost. He had learned to stop feeling shame about his height, and had just turned it into rage for anyone taller than him. Ymir moaned, “Dudes, does anyone know fifty five in German?”

“Fünfundfünfzig. Why, do you wanna say how old you are, Ymir?” Eren answered immediately,

“Oh fuck off, mate,” she spat back, writing it down.

“I didn’t know you knew German,” Levi remarked, and Eren raised his eyebrows,

“You are fantastic in many ways… but my surname is fucking Jaeger. Did you seriously not have a thought that German was possibly my second language?”

“So do you speak German at home then?” Ymir called as she continued writing.

“ _Ja_ ,” he replied, smiling to himself. Levi frowned,

“So your sister knows German too?”

“No we stopped using it as the household language when Mikasa came to live with us, but I still find it easier when it’s just my dad to speak in German,” he looked down a little bit, “and…with mum too,” he added quietly. Levi brought his hand up to Eren’s face slowly, brushing his thumb over Eren’s cheekbone. “You need to teach me some German some time so I can fit in with your family,” he suggested softly and Eren smiled, nuzzling against Levi’s hand. He started kissing Levi’s palm softly, his eyes never once leaving his face. Ymir made a retching sound in the back of her throat, “stop with the PDA. God, me and Krista could be doing a _lot_ worse things, but we’re not. So if I can hold back myself, then you can too,” she scolded, shutting her German books, and brushing the back of her pinafore off as she stood up. She helped Krista to her feet, the blonde holding her sketchbook close to her chest. “It’s getting cold, and everyone else is going in, so unless you guys wanna stay out, I suggest you walk back with us,”

Levi sighed, reluctantly dropping his hand from Eren’s face, standing up, facing the blonde girl. “Can I see what you drew?” he asked, and she nodded quickly, turning her book around, handing it carefully to him.

“Shit, you’re good…” he murmured, and she smiled,

“Thank you!”  she chirped. It was only a rough sketch – the start, really, and obviously she’d come back to finish it off in the coming days, but it was gorgeous. She was guaranteed an A in art if she kept that work up through her exams. His eyes scanned over the picture, taking in how accurate it was, when his eyes picked out one detail in particular. “Eren,” he called, not taking his eyes off the picture.

“What?” the younger boy asked, resting his head on Levi’s shoulder. The black haired boy brushed his finger over the one detail he was looking at, and Eren frowned, “Krista,” he licked his lips, looking up, “who’s this?” Levi turned the book so she could see what they were pointing to.

Among the trees she’d sketched out, there was a figure. She was a lot more detailed than the other aspects of the drawing – most of the people in the picture were. But that just made her all the more familiar. “Oh, I saw her in the tree line about halfway through the drawing,” Krista explained, “but she’s gone now…must’ve cleared off back to the dorms.”

Levi and Eren looked at each other for a moment, before the older boy looked back, “how about we escort you back to the Pankhurst dorms?”

 

Erwin licked his lips, rearranging the books on his desk as Levi talked. “She’s getting closer,” Levi said eventually.

The blonde boy nodded, “well, I agree with you there, but what do you want me to do?”

“Speed up your investigation-“

“There’s nothing more I can do until I get Frieda’s yearbook,” he said firmly. Levi rolled his eyes,

“Then we go up there and we try to fucking contact her now, I’m not waiting until she hurts someone else,” Eren couldn’t help notice Levi wrapping his arm subconsciously around his stomach as he said that. Erwin stopped what he was doing and looked at Levi, before he began moving again, bending down on his knees, pulling some things out of a low cupboard. “You know, I thought you were against this,” he remarked, and Levi scoffed,

“That was before she broke a kid’s collarbone,”

“I presume you’ll stay in the attic to see what happens?”

“Of course,” Levi replied, putting his hands in his pockets.

“What about you, Eren?” Erwin sat up from his search, watching the younger boy.

“Oh, um…sure, I guess?” he answered. The blond boy smiled slightly,

“Levi text Mike and Hanji and the others, see if they want in,”

He pulled out his phone, “On it,” he muttered, scrolling throw his phonebook. Eren swayed from foot to foot.

“Why do you guys have the stuff to prepare for this?” he whispered, Levi looked up at him briefly,

“We’ve been thinking about this since we were in year 10. We swore we were going to stop this, so trust me, we are prepared,” he said. Eren pressed his lips together,

“My sister’s in this house, can I go see her?” he asked eventually.

“Sure,” Levi replied, looking up from his phone to grab the back of Eren’s neck, pulling his head down so he could kiss him goodbye.

 

“Where’re you going now?” Ymir asked, scaring Eren as he left the room.

“Fuck, how long have you and Krista been standing there?” he breathed, running his hands through his hair.

“Since you and the gremlin scampered off to the head boy’s room after getting all freaky quiet looking at Krista’s drawing,” she said, “what’s going on?” She was glaring him straight in the eye; the only softness about her stance was how gently she was holding Krista’s hand. Eren slumped his shoulders, looking down the corridor, “I don’t know how to explain it,” he answered, his voice quiet.

“Well then just say what you’re thinking,”

“That story. The one Levi told us about?”

“That bitch who fell from the attic? What about it?” Eren stayed quiet, and Ymir sighed, brushing her hand over her mouth. “Don’t fucking tell me, Eren…” she began and he squared his jaw.

“It’s just a bit of fun, okay? Just to see what happens,” he lied, swallowing hard.

“What, you guys are going up to the attic?” she questioned. He nodded, Ymir grinning, “Aw shit man, you have to let me tag along!” she exclaimed, Eren sighing, fiddling with the end of his sleeve.

“We’ll see,” he muttered, wandering away from her, down the corridor towards Pankhurst common room.

 

He found her sat on one of the sofas, a book in her lap. Eren collapsed by her feet, resting his head on her knees. “Eren, what’re you doing here?” Mikasa asked, shutting her book, running her hands through his hair.

“Was out with Levi, but now him and Erwin are talking, so I thought I’d come see you,”

“Oh? And how’s it going with you and Levi?” she questioned, still petting him like he was the family dog. She did that a lot at home too – he did usually flop over her like a dog, so it was only natural she treated him in return like one. Eren thought about him and Levi’s kiss, and he started blushing. “Good…it’s going good,” he answered.

“So what are Levi and Eyebrows talking about?”

“It’s not very nice to call him names, you know,”

“I think he can handle it,” Mikasa answered softly. Eren sighed, lifting his head up to look at her.

“Talking about going up to the attic, doing some stuff up there,” her fingers tightened in his hair,

“Are you going with them?”

“…yeah…”

“Well then I’m going too,”

“but Mikasa, I’m not really sure if-“

“I’m not letting you go into a dark room alone with two older, stronger boys. You might be dating Levi, but you still don’t know a lot about him. I just want you to be safe,” she reasoned. Eren sighed. He wondered if Erwin would be okay with him bringing a few extras.

A few extras turned out to be Mikasa, Ymir, Reiner and Jean. Ymir had apparently texted a few people about it – and so the two boys showed up at the Pankhurst rooms, raring to go. With no idea what else to do, he found himself moving back to Erwin’s room. Levi and Erwin were still talking, and at some point, Hanji and Petra had arrived, and all of them turned to look at him as he entered the room. “What is it?” Levi asked, somewhat stressed. “I um, a few people in my year found out about this, and they want to tag along,” he said quietly. Erwin nodded, “that’s fine, Eren, don’t worry. Why don’t you guys just wait in the common room, we’ll tell you when we’re ready,” he spoke evenly, and Eren had no idea what else to do, other than leave.

 

It was dark outside by the time the year 13s were ready to go, and Eren would be lying if he didn’t say that he was a little bit apprehensive. He thought for sure that teachers would catch on to the massive group of students making their way across the ground after curfew. Levi slowed his pace, dropping back to walk by Eren’s side. “Why’d you look like you’re trying to take a shit?” he asked, and Eren furrowed his brows,

“That’s disgusting,” he muttered, smirking slightly,

“My point still stands. Your face is making an odd expression and I wanted to know why?”

Eren told him exactly what he thought about their strategy for getting to the attic, and what a bad idea he thought it was, and to his concerns, Levi just shook his head. “Are you forgetting we have been in this school for three years – we know the ins and outs of getting around without getting spotted. We’ve basically perfected it by now, so don’t worry and just follow us,” he grabbed Eren’s hand, pulling him forward.

It wasn’t easy getting ten teenagers up the stairs in relative darkness – there were several times when one of them nearly tripped over, and countless swear words were uttered in climbing those three flights of stairs. “We’re here,” Erwin announced, feeling along the wall to find the light switch. He found it, flicking it on, the whole room suddenly bathed in a weak light.

It was similar to the English storeroom, but it was more filled with odd bits of furniture. A couple of wardrobes stuffed against a wall, countless tables, a couple of beds against a corner. Several stacks of chairs – everything and anything really. But the thing that caught everyone’s eyes was the large window at the end. It’s latch now sealed over, having not been touched for years. Everyone couldn’t keep their eyes from travelling to look at it. The last place Annie Leonhardt ever stood. The room had an undeniable sadness about it – it was a room that had witnessed a tragedy, and you could feel the heavy weight of loss oozing from every corner of the room. “Levi, go shut the curtains,” Hanji hissed eventually, and the black haired boy made his way across the room, his hands hovering on the fabric of the curtains for a moment or two, before pulling them shut. Erwin had brought with them a glass and a board – it had the typical ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘goodbye’ signs on them, as well as the alphabet. Eren was familiar with the look of an Ouija board, but he never thought he’d see one in person. “Everyone sit in a circle,” he instructed. No one spoke. Even Eren’s friends – who didn’t know just how much of a serious situation they were getting themselves into – could feel something was off in that room. The board was set up, and Eren looked around at everyone in the circle – the year 13s were visibly nervous; Levi especially. But then again – he was coming face to face with a force that had tried to kill him. Everyone put their hands on the glass, slowly moving it around. “Who’s going to ask the questions?” Petra asked. Everyone looked around at each other, before Erwin spoke up,

“I’ll do it,” he offered. No one argued. “Is there anyone with us now?” For a long while, nothing happened. The glass remained still. The tension that had filled the room had calmed down a little bit. Jean sighed, “I don’t think anything’s going to-“ he cut himself off in the middle of the sentence. Eren felt it underneath his fingertips, the glass was dragging itself across the board. It didn’t feel like someone else in the group was pulling it – it felt as though it were moving itself, until eventually it stopped. The word underneath it reading ‘yes’.

“No fucking way…” Ymir whispered. Eren heard Levi’s breathing speed up beside him, and he reached across to grab his hand, rubbing his thumb across his skin gently. “Is Annie Leonhardt the one with us?” Erwin asked. The glass once more remained still, before slowly dragging itself around in a small circle, ending up back at ‘yes’. After that, everyone was quiet. Eren looked at Reiner’s face – he was staring at the board, his eyes wide, his mouth ajar. “What do I ask now?” Erwin asked, and Levi quickly spoke up,

“Are you the one who hurt Bertholdt?”

The glass repeated the same ‘yes’ motion. Jean sucked in a breath at that, shutting his eyes tightly. “What?” Mikasa whispered, and the boy shook his head slightly. “I thought I saw a hand pull Bertl - when he fell, but…but this is fucking unreal,” he said. Erwin’s eyes snapped up, looking from Jean to Levi. The two of them shared a meaningful glance before Levi shifted his hand against Eren’s. “Any more ideas?” Hanji asked. Everyone remained silent, “I don’t know what to ask anymore,” Mike admitted.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much all I have to ask,” Erwin agreed. They looked around the circle again, everyone at a loss for words. “Well, fuck,” Levi murmured, causing the group to begin laughing.

The relief was short-lived though – the glass moving again, this time towards the alphabet, spelling out something. Eren lost track of the words – it was moving so slowly, and there were so many letters he had no idea what they spelt out. After a few minutes, the glass stopped spelling, and instead looped over to the ‘goodbye’ section of the board. “What was that?” Reiner asked, just as confused as Eren. “Did anyone get that?” Looking around the circle, nearly everyone was wearing a similar expression of confusion. “I got it,” Mikasa said quietly.

“What’s it say?” Ymir asked. Mikasa stayed silent, and Eren looked up at his sister. Her skin was pale, her lips pressed in a firm line. Her eyes were fixed on the board, wide and panicked. She looked scared. “Mikasa,” Eren called, and she looked up at him like a deer caught in headlights. “What did Annie say?” Mikasa looked down at the board again, before looking back at her brother, swallowing.

“‘I know what you did, Jaegers.’”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might edit this chapter, or revise it at some point b/c I don't think its as good as it could be, but I couldn't edit it anymore at the minute, and I wanted to get something published.


	13. The Novelty of Guilt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren freaks the fuck out twice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think we might be getting close to the climax/end of the story. I don't think it's gunna be more than 20 chapters.

Eren shot up from his seat, his chest heaving, his eyes wide. His mind was racing, and he couldn’t get a clear thought out. He ran his hands through his hair, pulling at the ends. He was trying to focus his mind so much it hurt. Taking breaths was so difficult, his chest felt heavy and he couldn’t get himself to breathe properly – he kept gasping for air. Mikasa couldn’t move from her spot on the floor to help him. She kept staring at the board, regulating her breathing, hands clenched into fists. “Eren, hey, Eren,” Jean spoke quickly, his words rising in alarm. He stood up, reaching out a hand to touch the boy and-

“No!” Eren screamed, staggering back from the group until his back hit the wall, and air was knocked out of his lungs again. He sunk to the floor, still pulling at his hair, curling in on himself.

Levi didn’t know what to do. He’d never been good at these situations. When Erwin’s father had died, he’d gone very still and quiet for a moment or two, and when Levi had tried to touch him to comfort him, he’d crumbled. Everyone reacted to different situations in so many ways; it was difficult to know what to do, even for people who were good at comfort. For someone as introverted as Levi, he had no idea how to even start comforting. He knew as Eren’s boyfriend he should have done something, but he had no idea what. “No, no, no, no, no,” he turned his head for a minute to see where the sound was coming from. Mikasa was bent over the board, rocking herself slowly, repeating that whisper over and over to herself.

Jean put his hand on Mikasa’s back, rubbing soothing circles, but it was clear he had no idea what to do. None of them had any idea what to do. The message was odd, yes, but they had no idea what it meant. No idea what they’d done. Obviously it was scaring them, though – the idea that someone knew. Levi slowly stood up, walking over to Eren. He couldn’t make out everything he was saying to himself, but he could understand snippets. “…didn’t mean to… I’m sorry I’m sorry…had no choice…didn’t mean it…”

Levi crouched down to Eren’s level, “Kid, hey,” he whispered, reaching his hand out to touch Eren, before deciding against it. Eren looked up, his pupils large, his eyes wild and unfocused. He was looking in the direction of Levi, but he was looking past him. His lips were quivering slightly, still producing words that died as they bubbled off his lips. Eren looked down again, bringing his hand up to his face, gnawing on the side of his thumb. “Eren, listen,” Levi whispered again, gently touching Eren’s shoulder. The boy jumped, looking him straight in the face. He didn’t shout for him to get off, though, “It’s okay,” Levi said firmly, rubbing Eren’s shoulder. He didn’t know what else to say. Eren shook his head,

“No, no, it’s not okay, it’s not,” he mumbled, and Levi shook his head, placing his other hand on Eren’s cheek.

“Shh, just listen to me, okay? It’s okay,” he tried to get Eren to look him in the eyes, but the boy kept looking away.

“It’s not okay, Levi, it’s _not_ , and if you had any idea…” he trailed off, swallowing hard before looking back at the older boy, “if you had any idea, you’d run,”

Levi looked over at Hanji and Erwin, they sat still in the circle, not sure what to do. “Well, why don’t you just tell me what you did and I can deci-“

“No! I can’t tell you!” Eren cried. He went back to biting his thumb after that. Levi sat back a bit, brushing his fingertips through Eren’s hair.

“I can’t help you if I don’t know what you did…” he tried, and Eren just closed his eyes, shaking his head,

“I can’t tell you,” he insisted, and Levi’s shoulder slumped.

He understood Eren, in a small way. There were plenty of things about himself that he wasn’t willing to give up. The idea that someone may know was terrifying – and he understood the panic Eren was in. But it also made him scared. What was it that Eren was so unwilling to talk about? How bad could it be? Eren didn’t seem like the type to have dark secrets. Levi sat on the floor in front of him, crossing his legs, letting Eren know that there was no way in hell he was going to just leave. “Well, whatever it was, whatever you did…she can’t hurt you. I’m not gunna let her do that to you, so I’m going to need you to trust me on that one, okay?” Levi said softly. Eren looked at him, his hands still trembling slightly. “I don’t care what you did, I just want to make sure you’re safe,”

Eren nodded, clenching his hands into fists, unclenching them, trying to get himself under control. “I’m okay,” he said quietly, and Levi could tell he didn’t quite believe it. He sighed, pulling Eren against him, slowly stroking his hair in what he hoped was a comforting manner. Eren made a little sound, confused as to what Levi was doing, and the older boy just sighed. “I’m hugging you, you idiot,” he murmured, nuzzling into Eren’s neck, pressing his lips lightly to the skin. Eren’s breathing began getting steadier again, and he slowly wrapped his arms around Levi in return. “Thank you,” he whispered softly, relaxing into his arms. Levi kept running his hand through Eren’s hair, not really sure what else to do. “I’ll tell you one day, but for now I just _can’t_ , I’m sorry,” Eren whimpered, and Levi shook his head.

“I don’t give a fuck, Eren, just tell me you’re okay,” he insisted, hearing the younger boy sniff.

“I’m okay,” he said finally. Levi pulled away from Eren, brushing his hands against his face, pressing a kiss to the boy’s forehead before finally letting go for good.

Jean was still whispering encouraging words to Mikasa, and Eren pressed his lips together, “I should um, probably take care of Mika,” he mumbled, getting up and wandering over to his sister, murmuring things to her, too. Mike sniffed the air, grabbing Erwin’s arm firmly, “there’s someone downstairs,” he said. Erwin bit his lip.

“Everyone shut the fuck up a sec,” he called, keeping his voice low. When silence fell on the group, they could hear someone purposefully moving on the stairs bellow them.

“Fuck, I think it’s Shadis,” Hanji hissed, throwing the group into a silent panic.

“Hide!” Ymir finally whispered, scurrying across the floor in order to slide underneath a bed. Everyone sprung to life, madly running around the room, trying to find a hiding place. Mikasa slid underneath a bed, just like Ymir. Reiner grabbed Jean and hurled him into a wardrobe. Hanji scampered behind some stacked chairs. Erwin and Mike took another wardrobe, and soon Levi and Eren were stood alone in the room, panicking. “Get underneath one of the wardrobes?” Eren suggested, and Levi glared at him,

“I may be fucking tiny, but I’m not _that_ small, Eren! I’m not going to fit!”

“Then go sit on Hanji behind those chairs! Hurry!” The brunet shooed him, and Levi frowned,

“What about you?”

“He knows someone is up here! He’ll find you all eventually, so if I just sit here then he won’t look further!”

“Fuck that, I’ll stay with you,”

“Hell no, Levi, you’re a house leader and a prefect, no way you’re getting into trouble,” he insisted, giving Levi a little push towards Hanji’s stack of chairs. Levi looked over his shoulder at Eren once more, before climbing behind the stack, getting himself comfortable as he sat in Hanji’s lap, watching as Eren braced himself for impact.

Shadis was brutal when he opened that door and found Eren standing there. He was seriously pissed, and all of the kids listening in felt shame for allowing Eren to take the blame. “I promise you Eren, whatever you want this Christmas, I will fucking buy for you,” Levi said as he tried to get himself out of his hiding spot (with some help from Hanji rather gracefully grabbing him by the arse and pushing him out). Eren smiled weakly, still shaking from being yelled at, “you mean your _dad_ will buy me whatever I want,”

Levi shrugged, “Eh, I didn’t get the name the rich bitch for nothing,”

“Seriously, though, dude, after hours detention? We can own up to hiding and get the punishment too?” Jean asked, running his hands through his hair. Eren shook his head, “it’s cool, don’t worry, one single detention is nothing,” he laughed nervously.

“Well, since that just happened, I suggest we all get out of here as fast as possible and forget what just transpired,” Erwin said, and Ymir nodded quickly,

“I agree with eyebrows, let’s bail,” she said, throwing the door to the room open.

Mikasa was the last to exit the room, and she turned around again one more time. The curtains were still, now open, moonlight spilling into the room, casting sinister shadows on everything. The air was cold, and the only sound, save for her group making their way down the corridor, was a soft sighing noise. She pulled her scarf up, breathing in, losing herself in the smell of home. She closed her eyes and whispered to herself again, “it wasn’t our fault, it wasn’t our fault, it wasn’t our fault,” and with that affirmation, she turned around and left the room quiet again.

 

Levi sighed, slumping into a seat in the music room. They’d promised not to leave the main buildings until Eren was done with his detention, and so he, Erwin and Hanji were wasting time in the music block. “What do you think they did? Seriously?” Levi asked as he slumped over backwards in his chair,

“So you _do_ care?” Hanji teased, smirking slightly.

“Yes I do, and Jesus fuck, Hanji, please remember when you’re wearing a pinafore to close your legs, I do not need to see your underwear,”

“I think you should leave Eren’s business to Eren,” Erwin said curtly, his fingers running over the keys at the piano.

“I am, which is why I’m not asking him. I’m just asking you,” Levi argued.

Erwin sighed, smashing his fingers down on the keys in frustration. He ran his hands through his hair. “Best case scenario, he tripped some kid up in the playground as a kid, worst case scenario, he stabbed some kid in the playground,” he said dismissively. Hanji frowned,

“No, best case scenario is he found out who the next messiah is. Why do you have to be such a negative nelly?”

“I’m not negative,” Erwin argued, “just realistic,”

“So I’m either in a relationship with a bully or a murderer? Isn’t that fantastic,” he muttered, rubbing his face. There was a silence in the room as Erwin and Hanji shared a look before, Erwin cleared his throat and began playing a tune Levi instantly recognised. Hanji began laughing, and Levi just growled. “What the fuck are you doing, Erwin?”

“C’mon, Levi, you know you wanna sing it,”

“No Erwin, I really don’t-“

“It’ll cheer you up,”

“No it won’t,”

“If you don’t, I will,”

“Shit, no, please, just stop playing the piano and-“

“ _Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world_ ,” Hanji was cackling as Erwin began singing, his eyes fixed on Levi, daring him to sing the next part. “I’m not gunna sing it,” he insisted. Erwin knew he hated that song.

“ _Just a city boy, born and raised in South Detroit_ ,”

“Oh god no Hanji, not you too,”

He sat grumpily through the entire song, waiting for his friends to finish – he hoped that maybe Erwin only knew how to play the first verse, but no, he had learnt the entire thing, and he and Hanji were going all out. It eventually ended, and all Levi could do was glare at them. “Sometimes I wonder why I don’t go and join the cool kids,” he said, and Erwin smirked,

“It’s because you told them all to fuck off, so you’re stuck with us,” he said, and Hanji nodded,

“And besides, you love us really,”

“It’s time like this I really doubt it,” he murmured. Hanji cackled, patting him on the back,

“I’ll go get Eren from his detention, leave you two to talk,” she said, moving over to the door. Levi started to get out of his chair,

“No, I can get him; he is my boyfriend after all,”

Hanji shook her head, already partly out the door, “Nah, I wanna have a conversation with Eren – get to know him a bit better, I’ll bring him back here so you can walk him back safe to your dorms, don’t worry,” she smiled brightly again, and pulled the door to.

Levi raised an eyebrow, “what the heck was that about?”

Erwin shut the piano, standing up. “I think she’s worried our friendship will become strained, with you spending all your time with Eren,” he explained, walking over. Levi shrugged,

“Not really? I still talk to you, and everyone. Am I really spending that much time with Eren?” he grumbled,

Erwin nodded, “You sleep with him, you eat with him, you see him at break and lunch, you text him in lessons, and you spend the afternoons and evenings with him,” he listed, and Levi shrugged,

“Oops?”

“Don’t worry, I don’t really care,” he waved his hand in dismissal.

“It’s just a new boyfriend thing I think. Is it a new boyfriend thing? I’ve never had a boyfriend,” Levi found himself muttering.

“I don’t know, I’ve never had a boyfriend,” Erwin replied,

“Oh shit, you mean you’re not dating Mike? Now I owe Hanji a fiver,” he grumbled. Erwin rolled his eyes, “Wait! That means _you’ve_ never had a relationship either, so how come you got to tease me about Eren?”

“I’ve had a relationship,” Erwin argued quickly.

“What? For a week in year six?”

“No, for like two weeks in year nine, actually,” he smiled, patting Levi on the back. “I really am happy for you and Eren, though, you two suit each other.”

 

There was something eerie about being the only person in the corridors after hours. The only sound was the click of Eren’s shoes as he walked along the wooden floor. He could feel it again. Eyes on his back. He felt a lump in his throat, and he couldn’t make himself look down the corridor towards the supply block. He was scared of what he might see. He decided to take a stop off at the canteen to get a drink from the vending machines. The lights had been turned off and now the room was bathed in blue light of the machines. Since his scare last night, he’d been shakier, and he had to be careful putting his change in. He could still feel someone watching him, and he felt like somebody was standing right behind him. He could feel their breathe on the back of his neck. He didn’t want to see who was there. He didn’t want to know. He didn’t want to look, for fear of what could be standing there. He looked. He was alone in the room, no one else there except Eren. He sighed, bending down to get his drink. When he stood back up, he caught a reflection in the glass. Someone was behind him, their eyes fixed on him, hair hanging down messily in front of their face, scaring Eren shitless. “What the fuck, Hanji?” he gasped, dropping his drink and throwing himself against the glass of the vending machine in fear. She began cackling wildly, “you should’ve seen your face, Eren!” she giggled, and Eren sighed, picking up his juice bottle. “Yeah, I’m sure it’s hilarious,” he muttered, pulling the seal off his apple juice.

“Anyway, Levi and Erwin are hanging out in the music block, so let’s hurry up!” Hanji chirped once she was done laughing, grabbing Eren by the arm and pulling him out of the canteen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed, feel free to leave a comment/kudos!!


	14. The Scars of Yesterday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is gay and traumatized.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy wow I am so sorry this took so long for me to update. I only have a few more events I want to include and then it'll be over! (Shit hits the fan)

Eren lay back in Levi’s bed, breathing out through his nose sharply. Levi was sat at his desk in his underwear, going through his usual routine of moisturizing his burns, and he looked up momentarily to watch Eren. It was getting colder already, and Eren, who had never been particularly fond of English weather, had quickly traded in his simple boxers for sweatpants and a t-shirt. “I can see your belly button,” Levi muttered, and Eren wiggled a little bit on the bed, but ultimately did nothing. “Pull down your shirt,” the older boy finally ordered, and Eren still did nothing.

“You think my belly button is cute, so I don’t see why you’re complaining,” he grumbled, covering his eyes with his arm. Levi sighed, very calmly getting up and walking over to Eren. His room may have been the best one of the dorm, but it was still under-heated and Levi had always been badly affected by cold. He sat down on the edge of the bed, and Eren peered out from behind his arm. Levi leaned over him, and the younger boy quickly sucked in his breath, his eyes locked on him. Levi watched him back for a little while, before reaching out and laying his ice-cold hand on Eren’s stomach. The boy squealed, his legs kicking up in the air, staring at Levi with the most betrayed look on his face. “Why would you do that?” he gasped,

“That wouldn’t have happened if you’d covered your stomach,” Levi reasoned, withdrawing his hand, “pass me my sweater, it’s cold as tits in here,” he mumbled.

He heard Eren whisper “tits are warm though”, but he passed Levi his jumper anyway, and he slid it on, Eren shifting his position so he could rest his head in Levi’s lap. He chuckled softly to himself, “your skin smells like cocoa,” he remarked, and Levi quirked an eyebrow,

“Eren you just saw me sit there and lather myself in cocoa butter, that’s hardly surprising,”

“It’s not surprising, it just smells really nice and I wanted to comment on it,” he said, his fingers tracing down the edges of Levi’s thigh.

“Whatever you want,” he muttered, his fingers working their way into Eren’s hair, stroking gently.

“You know, your burns don’t really seem that bad. I always thought that they’d be massively obvious, but yours don’t really stand out too much,” Eren commented. Levi stiffened for a moment or two, but then relaxed again,

“I’ve had a lot of skin grafting,” he explained quietly, “and if I want more when I’m eighteen, my parents are willing to pay for it,”

“Do you want more?”

“Well yeah…I can have plastic surgery, or laser treatments, and medical tattooing too, so I have a lot of options of how I make myself look more normal,” Eren remained silent at that remark, and Levi patted his shoulder, “What? You don’t like me talking about myself like that?” he asked, and Eren nodded slowly. “Don’t worry, I’m not that badly torn up about it. But it is hard, Eren, believe me, and I don’t see why I should have to pretend that I’m the same as everyone else. This isn’t normal – and it’s a good thing that it’s not normal, because you can’t imagine the pain you feel before your nerve endings burn away, and as someone who doesn’t need to imagine, I wouldn’t wish that on even my worst enemies,” he smiled slightly. “Also inner-beauty makes someone look great no matter what their body looks like, but as I don’t have any inner-beauty I have to rely on my physical characteristics,” Eren laughed, sitting up in bed so that he was facing Levi. He watched him for a moment or two, before Levi put his hand on the side of Eren’s face, studying closely. “Your eyes are so pretty,” he commented, kissing Eren’s cheek softly. The brunet grinned, and Levi kissed him again, his lips trailing down Eren’s jawline and down to his neck. Eren laughed at the sensation, his hand coming to tug on the back of Levi’s neck, pressing his chest flush with his. Levi ran his hands over Eren’s hips, pulling him ever so gently closer. He felt like he needed to treat Eren carefully. He was only two years younger than he was – hardly a child, but he felt so precious. No one had loved Levi like that before – no one had looked at him and been completely satisfied with who he was. Someone like that was special, and he felt like if he wasn’t careful enough he’d break him. Ruin him. It was then that he realised, as he pressed his lips to Eren’s neck, and he held him tight against his body, that he didn’t want him to go. He wanted him to stay with him. It was stupid – to feel that way about someone who’d only been in his life so briefly. Feeling that way was unhealthy, but he wanted Eren to stay, no matter how irrational he knew that want was. He felt Eren’s fingernails digging into his neck and his arm, and he felt something swell in his chest and he was so happy that Eren was there with him. He stopped kissing his neck, breathing in Eren’s scent. He rested his chin on his shoulder, “hey Eren…do you think we’ll still be together in a year?” he asked, his thumbs rubbing at Eren’s side thoughtfully.

“Oh? So we’re together now? Weren’t you the one to say that we were just seeing how the dating thing goes? I thought you were my man-thing,” Eren answered, and Levi could hear the smirk in his voice.

“Yeah well, you were my…man-thing. I just think that we were trying out the dating thing, and I think it works well with the two of us,” Levi stammered. He wasn’t good at this.

Eren stayed quiet, and Levi felt something drop in his stomach. _Shit,_ he thought, _he doesn’t feel the same way_. “Well, I mean, that’s what I think anyway, I don’t know about you, so…” he trailed, sliding his hands off Eren’s sides, trying to get move away, but Eren’s hand on the back of his neck just tightened, staying firm. “Why’re you trying to move away? You ask me to be your boyfriend and then you try to squirm away?” he asked, and Levi shrugged, fixing his eyes on a book on his shelf. The brunet sighed, letting go of Levi, and he thought for a moment that that was it: Eren was just going to get up and go. But instead, he felt his hands dig into Levi’s thighs _dangerously_ close to his butt, and then Eren lifted him up to sit on his lap. It was then he dared to look up. His hair was hanging down in front of his face, but he could still see Eren smiling goofily at him, with his lopsided, shit-eating grin, and Levi knew then that he was completely fucked. Eren ran his hands through Levi’s hair, pulling it away from his face. “Hey,” he said softly, “I’d love to be your boyfriend.” Levi didn’t have much time to feel relief, because Eren quickly pressed his lips to Levi’s, and Levi wrapped his arms around his waist again, firmer this time. Their kiss wasn’t as controlled as their first, and neither of them cared. Levi didn’t want to let Eren go, he didn’t want to stop kissing him. He loved how Eren held him, how he treated him. Eventually Eren pulled apart, smiling breathlessly, “what’s my dad going to think when I tell him I have a boyfriend?”

Levi grumbled under his breath, “Oh fuck, don’t tell me this is going to be some awkward ‘I’m not gay’ shit if I ever go to your house,” and Eren quickly shook his head,

“No! I’m going to tell him, I promise! It’s just…we never really spoke about that stuff, so I don’t know his views on it. I think it’ll be okay, but there’s always a risk,” he murmured. Levi nodded, and Eren nuzzled closer to him, “What about your parents?”

“My mum and dad were okay. He’s a little bit uncomfortable with it – I think he’s glad that I haven’t really dated anyone, because he wouldn’t know how to act around my boyfriend,”

“Well now he’ll have to learn,” Eren chirped, and Levi nodded, bringing his hands up from Eren’s waist to brush his hands through his hair again. “Kenny said he’d been expecting it, though, that he was waiting until I realised and started bringing boys to meet him,” he sighed, and sucked his lip in. “Enough talk, I want to kiss you again,” he murmured, pulling Eren closer. Usually Levi was scared of close contact like this. He didn’t like people touching him so freely – he liked to be in control. Regardless of that, though, he felt that he could trust Eren. This boy would treat him right.

Eventually they pulled apart, and Levi sighed, “it’s probably best for us to sleep now,”

Eren furrowed his brows, nipping at Levi’s jawline, “I don’t want to,” he grumbled, and Levi rolled his eyes,

“Yeah, I don’t either, but I also don’t want to be hecka tired tomorrow when we start practise for inter-house,” he reasoned, climbing off Eren’s lap. “Oh shit, I forgot about that,” the brunet muttered,

“Yup, tomorrow you’re gunna have so much fun running around a track for ages,” Levi said sarcastically, climbing into his bed, pulling the covers up. Eren snuggled in next to him, sighing content, “night night, babe,”

“I told you, it’s _captain_ ,”

“G’night Captain, then,”

“Goodnight brat.”

 

At least it wasn’t morning practise – that was what Eren kept telling himself as he begrudgingly pulled his stuff out of his locker, and began making his way to the changing room. Skipping practise had crossed his mind – but he knew neither Levi or Petra would let him get away with it, and the thought of either of them chasing him down was terrifying enough that he didn’t dwell on the thought for longer than a minute. He found Jean in the changing rooms, and he ran up to him, slapping him on the back, “Ready for round two, bitch?” he asked, grinning. Jean just glared back at him, “I’m not doing sprinting, asshole, I’m on the rugby team,” he spat. Eren had to admit – he was a little disappointed. He was looking forward to racing (and winning) against Jean again. “What, were you scared that I’d beat you again?” he shot back, and Jean just glared at him, before turning his back, and taking his shirt off. Eren found a space between Armin and Marco to change, quietly slipping his shirt off, his fingers brushing over the raised bump of scar tissue high up on his stomach. He didn’t care particularly much – it was hardly anything to mope about. Not like Levi’s scars. But it still reminded him of what he’d done.

Petra was waiting for him and the others when they got out, her hands on her hips, her hair tied up tightly in a ponytail. “It looks like we’re in for some serious running,” Eren commented to Sasha, and she nodded,

“I’m so glad I wore my heavy duty sports bra today,”

They were right. Petra made sure they were running as fast as humanly capable, stretching them as far as they could go. She was a good motivator, though, and when someone fell behind she made sure to run with them so they didn’t feel so embarrassed. She was supportive as well as firm. Eren noticed across the track that Armin had been put on the Fawcett running team, along with Marco. Bertholdt had been selected for the team, but with his collarbone broken, there was no way he could compete for inter-house.  Hanji was being just as supportive as Petra was – especially since it was clear that Armin did not have a natural talent for running. It was odd to see a group of individuals being so caring towards others, but that was probably why they were leaders. They were responsible enough to be able to support their peers.

Maybe it was being surrounded by those calm, supporting personalities that made him do it. He couldn’t see any other logical reason for it. Marco was catching his breath on the side of the field, sipping from his water bottle, his eyes drifting constantly to the rugby pitch. Eren knew the reason before he even looked – Jean was over there. “Why don’t you just talk to him?” Eren asked, and Marco jumped – startled for a minute, before blushing slightly. “Talk to who?”

“Jean, duh,” Eren said, grinning. Marco pressed his lips into a firm line, politely smiling,

“I _do_ talk to Jean, you know-“

“No I mean…why don’t you just ask him out?” Eren pressed, and Marco blushed harder, looking down suddenly. He opened his mouth to deny it, but Eren cut him off, “Everyone can see that you two would be perfect together,” he insisted.

Marco kicked at the muddy pitch stiffly, “Yeah but, he probably doesn’t like me…” he muttered, shrugging and smiling at Eren. He did that a lot – smiling, even though it was obvious he didn’t feel like smiling. “Dude everyone likes you,” Eren countered quickly, and Marco nodded, his eyes flicking back to watch Jean storming after Reiner, diving after the ball. “That’s the problem. Everyone likes me, so Jean probably just likes me like that too,”

Eren furrowed his eyebrows, sighing slightly. “Marco, I’m sorry, but it’s like _really_ fucking obvious that Jean thinks of you as more than just a friend. Seriously, just…ask him if he wants to go to the library or something. If you guys want it to be a date then it can be, but it can also just be friendly studying, you know? Just think about it, seriously, but I’m not lying to you,” he patted him on the shoulder briefly, and Marco nodded to himself.

“Yeah…I mean I guess that could be a good place to start,” he murmured,

“Damn right. Just go for it,” Eren urged, and Marco shut his eyes tight, giving himself an extra burst of courage before walking towards the rugby pitch.

Eren felt a strange burst of pride in his chest as he watched Marco bound over the field. Jean didn’t deserve it, but he was about to get an angel of a boyfriend. “Thank god,” he jumped when he heard Bertholdt sigh next to him, and turned to see him and Armin standing there.

“We’ve been trying to get him to talk to Jean for ages!” the blond explained, grinning. “Now their love is going to blossom…I can’t wait to see that,” he sighed and Eren nodded, smiling to himself. He’d done good work today – he felt like some sort of homosexual cupid – he seemed to be good at this matchmaking stuff. Maybe he could get Mikasa a girlfriend?

 

The changing room was hands down the worst aspect of school life for Mikasa. The last few times she’d managed to get there early, and slip into a bathroom stall to get dressed, but she’d arrived late this PE lesson and all of the toilet cubicles were already in use. So she stood in the corner of the changing room, wedged between Sasha and Ymir, her school shirt in her hands. Changing from her school shirt to her sports jersey had been easy, but changing back would be harder. She didn’t want to take off her shirt. If she could wait until everyone else left…but that would be ages. It would be suspicious. Ymir next to her pulled off the navy and black jersey, stood care free in her polka dot bra. Her skin was tanned and freckled, smooth of any scarring. Mikasa looked down at her shirt again, knowing what lay beneath her jersey was nothing like that. “You okay?” she heard a small voice next to her whisper, and she turned to see Sasha, midway through buttoning up her shirt.

“Fine,” she answered meekly. Sasha looked at her, and then around the changing room.

“Do you want me and Ymir to stand in front of you so no one looks at you?” she offered. Mikasa just stared at her, not sure what to do. She was strong – she could fight off anyone who bullied her or Eren, but that didn’t mean she was untouchable. People’s stares, their whispers – they still hurt her. “You’d do that?”

“’course we would, no biggie,” Ymir muttered, moving further forward with Sasha to create a screen between Mikasa and the rest of the changing room. “Girls have to stick out for each other, this just means you owe me a favour next time, okay?” she called back to Mikasa. She hastily nodded as she pulled her jersey over her head, feeling slightly more at ease.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will probably follow Mikasa and the girls around because I haven't really focused on them much. I would love to know what you thought, and if you enjoyed feel free to leave a comment or kudos ^^


	15. Deep Dark Depths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Girls night goes wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I took so long to update! However, I think we're on the home stretch - maybe the last five chapters or so before we reach the epilogue. Probably less, if I'm honest.

It was mid-November at Rose Academy, and the cold had well and truly set in. Mikasa hadn’t even rolled out of bed, but she found herself already beaten by the cold. She wanted nothing more than to stay wrapped in her duvet and her warmth for the entire day and just miss school. But Krista’s chirpy alarm was annoying the fuck out of her. She’d learnt very early on that the alarm was more for her than the blonde - she was able to sleep through it, miraculously. Mikasa sighed again, and eventually rolled out of bed. She keyed in Krista’s passcode and turned the alarm off, standing for a minute in the cold, wondering what on earth she was doing there.

She’d entered the school because Grisha had decided it would be good for her and Eren to put some distance between them and Shiganshina for a while. She wasn’t sure, but Eren had agreed, and that had persuaded her. She thought that they’d be put in the same house because they were siblings – that’s what their old high school did; but Rose Academy was different, and it was because of that difference – as well as their difference in GCSE options – that she hadn’t seen a lot of her brother recently. The last time she’d had a decent conversation with him was at her house leader Erwin’s birthday party, all the way back in October. Other than that, he’d spent the majority of his time with his boyfriend. Not that Mikasa minded, really. If Eren was happy with Levi, that was that. Plus it gave her more time to hang around her own friends.

It had been a blessing to have Krista as her roommate. Mikasa was somewhat nervous about the idea of making friends, but Krista had helped with that. She’d been nothing but friendly – inviting her to sit with her and her friends when Eren was sat with Levi. It was thanks to her that she’d become friends with the people she had – Ymir had been drawn into conversation with Krista and had stuck around and become a friend of Mikasa, and she’d brought Sasha with her from Nelson house. Reiner, Bertholdt and the other guys had also slowly migrated into the group – they’d been drawn closer since Bert’s accident and they’d all had to take turns in carrying his stuff for him to and from lessons.

 

Mikasa ended up spending her time after lessons on Thursday with the girls. Ymir bought a cookie from the canteen after their last lesson, and then they began slowly making their way outside. “Yo, Ymir…what flavour of cookie is that?” Sasha asked, twiddling the ends of her ponytail between her thumb and forefinger.

“White chocolate chip,” the girl answered back, breaking off a piece and eating it. Sasha licked her lips.

“Is it good?”

“Hells fuckin’ yeah,” Ymir mumbled, taking another bite.

“Can I…can I have a bite?” The dark-skinned girl glanced at Sasha out of the corner of her eye, and Mikasa saw the other girl shy back a bit, and she wondered if Ymir had made a habit of hitting her. But then she shrugged, and with a casual “why not”, she offered her biscuit to Sasha. She wasted no time biting in, nodding in approval  as she chewed slowly. Krista made a face at the two of them, pulling her ponytail tighter. “What is it, princess?” Ymir asked, her voice somewhat accusing.

“Sharing food like that is gunna get you sick,” she pointed out, and the taller girl just shrugged.

“So? Everyone gets ill at some point – makes your immune system stronger,”

“But the canteen cookies are gross. You have no idea who made them – whether they were wearing gloves or not, what they had on their hands, what happened whilst they were being made. There could be so much nasty stuff in there – Hitch swears she found a hair in one of hers,”

“Yes, but Hitch just _loves_ to make a fuss about nothing. Plus if you want to worry about the production of food – worry about the school cafeteria meals instead – the cookies are a fucking godsend compared to those,” she argued, and Krista shrugged as Ymir put her arm around her, kissing her forehead before taking another bite of her cookie.

They settled down by the edge of the lake again, Krista bringing out her sketchbook. Sasha and Mikasa settled down on the bench above them, with Ymir on the floor next to the blonde. “You know we saw your brother and the gremlin last time we were down here?” Ymir said, leaning back on Sasha’s legs, looking at Mikasa.

“Oh yeah?” She answered weakly, wrapping her scarf around herself again.

“Yeah, and then Levi freaked the fuck out at Krista’s drawing and we went up into the attic and…” Ymir realised she was going into awkward territory about halfway through her sentence, the memory of Mikasa’s panic attack fresh in all of their minds. “Eren always seems to be clinging to that guy; don’t you find it a little creepy?” She continued, picking up a different topic.

“Is he really? I don’t see him very much anymore, so I didn’t realise,” Mikasa murmured.

“Oh god, they hang out like 24/7, isn’t that right, Sash?”

“Yeah, for sure,” the brunette girl replied, “every evening in the common room, Levi will sit there doing work and Eren will be sat next to him just chatting away,”

“He looks like Levi’s bitch or something,” Ymir cut in, and Mikasa nodded, biting her lip.

“I just hope that Eren doesn’t piss him off,”

“Why would that happen?”

“When I was adopted by the Jaegers, I noticed that Eren was a very extroverted kid. And I’m really the opposite. I love Eren a lot, I really do – he’s my little brother, but…he’s very full on. And sometimes I just need a break from him, because I get…tired. I feel like Levi’s the same, and I know it gets frustrating when you’re tired and someone just won’t leave you alone – so I hope Levi doesn’t snap at him because they’re so different,” she explained quietly. Ymir nodded,

“I hear you. I dunno, I don’t think Levi’d yell at him. He may seem to have a shitty mood, but I think he has more calm to him than just yelling,” she explained, and Mikasa brushed her hair out of her face, nodding.

“I hope you’re right,”

Krista sighed loudly, slumping against Ymir. “Jeez! We’re having a girls evening, and here you are, talking about _boys_! Can we just have some hush and talk about something else!” she cried, brushing her hair out of her face. Ymir smirked, putting her arm around her.

“She’s right,” she muttered, and Sasha pursed her lips.

“Where are the guys anyway?” She questioned, and Mikasa shrugged,

“Guy time, or something. You know, Jean and Marco are at the library on a date-not-date thing, and the rest of them are supporting Armin in his running. I don’t know why – Reiner isn’t even on the sprinting team, but whatever gets them their man time I guess, just gives us in peace for once,”

“Mm, and thank God,” Krista agreed, going back to her sketching. They were all silent for a little while, not really sure what to do. Mikasa sighed, rubbing her back. It was nice just to have silence for once. A comfortable silence between people she trusted. She did trust the girls, even though she hadn’t known them very long – there was something about all of them that made them trustworthy. Even Ymir, who was by nature not the most pleasant person, was someone she felt like she could trust. She wasn’t used to having that. Shiganshina was somewhere where she had to protect Eren from everyone. Even then, everyone seemed to know there was something wrong with them. She didn’t have that here.

“Hey heyyy, I have an idea,” Sasha broke the silence, raising her eyebrows at the other girls.

“What?” Ymir asked lazily, leaning her head back to look at Sasha.

“Truth or dare, how’s about it?”

The other girls thought about it, before all quickly agreeing. It sounded fun – they were up for it. “Right, Ymir, truth or dare?”

“Ugh, I’m too lazy for a dare at the minute. Truth,”

“If you had to date any boy, who would it be?”

“Seriously, Sash? That’s the best you can come up with. That’s weak as shit,”

“Hey! I was put on the spot! I was perfectly prepared to make you drink pond water – I thought you were gunna go dare!”

“Ew, no,”

“C’mon Ymir babe, just answer the question,”

“Fine, Bertl if I had to pick a guy,”

“Aww, that’d be cute,”

“Can it, Sasha,”

“On it,”

“Who’s next then?” Krista asked, and Ymir narrowed her eyes, glancing around the group. Mikasa thought for sure she was going to pick Krista. That was how it worked right – pick your girlfriend, not anyone else. But Ymir seemed to know that was what was expected for her, and instead, turning her lips up in a smirk, called out another name. “Mikasa – truth or dare?” She raised her eyebrows a little bit – was she meant to be intimidated by being picked? “Truth,” she answered back evenly, and Ymir nodded her head slightly, brushing her hand through her ponytail. She was thinking, and Mikasa could almost see the cogs turned in the girl’s head. She parted her lips slightly, before coming back to look at her. “What is the truth about those scars on your back?” She asked firmly.

The two other girls gasped. “Ymir – you can’t ask that,” Krista quickly hissed, turning to look at Mikasa. Sympathy clear in her face. They felt sorry for her. She didn’t deserve that. She didn’t deserve to have people pity her. She knew they all wanted to know, but didn’t want to ask. What could be the harm in telling? She’d told so many people the same story. She licked her lips, not letting her shock show. “It’s okay, really, I’ll tell you,” she turned her head so she was looking Ymir straight in the face. “When I was eight, I came home from school and my parents were dead. They’d been murdered, and the men who had done it were still in the house when I came home, but I didn’t know that until they took me. They…caused the scars on my back, and on my arms. The only reason I escaped was because Eren found where I was being kept, and he helped me escape.” She explained, and just stared at the other girls silently. She hoped her fear didn’t show on her face. She was so scared of what they’d think of her. She didn’t know how they’d react. Whether they’d just see her as a victim now.

“Oh my god,” Sasha breathed out shakily. Ymir simply nodded, keeping her reaction hidden.

“Is that why you’re so close to him? You owe him your life?”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Mikasa said quickly, “but I am grateful to him,”

“Damn that boy has balls,”

“You can’t tell anyone, though. I mean, I don’t like anyone seeing the scars or hearing that story because they just feel sorry for me, and I don’t want that. So, this stays between us, got it?” She said firmly, and the other girls all nodded.

“Yeah – I mean Ymir’s not that much of an asshole that she’d spread that,” Sasha reassured her, smiling as she slapped Ymir on the back.

“And who does Ymir have to tell anyway? She doesn’t have enough friends,” Krista muttered.

“Alright smart-ass, who does Mikasa pick for the next round?” 

She looked around, setting her eyes on the blonde who was now lazing into Ymir’s lap. “Krista. Truth or dare?”

Krista grumbled, sitting up. “I’ll go for dare to liven things up a bit,”

“Why don’t _you_ drink the pond water then, since Ymir didn’t go for a dare?”

“Ew, Sasha, that’s disgusting,”

“A dare is a dare, right?”

“C’mon Kris, it’s just a mouthful – it’s character building! You can do it!”

“Shut up Ymir, I’m going,” She sighed, standing up, taking off her blazer, her cardigan and rolling up her shirt sleeves.

The rest was a blur in Mikasa’s mind. She reached into the water with both hands and was about to draw out when she said she was stuck, and it felt like someone was pulling her down. Ymir had told her to stop being dumb. Then Krista had screamed and fallen into the water, and Ymir and Sasha began laughing. But Krista hadn’t come back up straight away. When she did finally emerge, she was screaming and thrashing about – crying and begging for them to help. Mikasa and Ymir had taken off running to the edge – Mikasa throwing her blazer and jumper off as she ran, and Ymir just diving in, completely clothed. The water was cold when Mikasa jumped in, and her mind was racing, every single thought about Krista. It was so hard to see what was happening – the water was dark and murky. She couldn’t find Krista anywhere. Her lungs ached from holding her breath, and she finally surfaced. Ymir did too, after another few seconds. She pulled her hair out of her face, gasping, “I can’t find her!” she groaned. Mikasa kept paddling in a circle, her eyes scanning the water. There were no bubbles coming up anywhere. Where was she?

Behind her, there came a gasping and a choking sound, and she turned to see the small blonde barely managing to keep her head above the water before she disappeared under the surface again. Mikasa wasted no time – she lunged forward– catching a glimpse of Krista’s hands as she disappeared deeper into the pond. Mikasa’s lungs were burning again, but she wasn’t letting Krista go. She grabbed her hand, and she felt like if she didn’t hold on, she’d lose her for good. It took more force then she expected to pull Krista up to the surface. She pulled her close to her, clawing herself back to the surface, gasping air in. Krista shivered against her, choking water out, sucking air in. “Ymir! I have her!” She cried, and the other girl paddled through the water, helping Mikasa drag the blonde back onto land.

Everyone was very silent as Ymir held Krista to her, running her hands through her hair, soothing her as she sobbed. Mikasa and Sasha lay their blazers over the two of them, trying to keep them warm. “What do we do now?” Sasha breathed as Mikasa shook her hair out of her face. She looked back at the lake in time to see someone disappear behind the trees – their pinafore sticking to their figure as they slipped through the wood. Mikasa shook her head weakly. “I don’t know,” she admitted finally, her voice cracking. Her lips quivered with the cold, and Sasha insisted on giving her her cardigan to try and keep her warm whilst they headed back to the dorms. Ymir helped Krista walk back to the buildings, and Mikasa and Sasha were behind. It was then she noticed the marks. The angry red lines on Krista’s wrists, and her ankles. Lines that looked like someone’s nails had dug in, trying to keep her down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a little post-it on my home screen of all of the Attack on Titan au's I want to write, and I'm not sure which one I want to do next! I've narrowed it down to another high school au (not with ghosts and ghouls this time, though!), a musician eren au or an apocalypse au. If you have any preference for whichever one I write next, you can comment it, or send me a message on my tumblr (anri-kun.tumblr.com)


	16. A Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shit hits the fan like nobody's business.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating in so long, seriously, that was poop of me. To be honest though, my health kind of took like a massive hit and I ended up on these weird drugs that made my brain so freaking fuzzy you have no idea. I slept through the majority of my classes the past few weeks. I'm on a break now, and I'm off the meds, so I should be able to sit down and just write more often. I promise you I'll finish this story!

The next day was tense. There was an uncomfortable quietness across the group as they began their morning practise. No one seemed to want to speak, and Krista’s absence was missed. The rugby team didn’t seem to be trying their best, and Erwin and Levi were letting it pass. Krista had been taken to the hospital the night before – she hadn’t lost consciousness, but no one wanted to risk anything. She hadn’t come back, and everyone was feeling the anxiety as they ran in the cold. Eren’s breath was visible in the frosty air as he ran, keeping pace with Thomas. Petra brought them all to a stop on their fourth lap. “I think you guys have run enough…why don’t you go in now?” It was only then that Eren had looked up, and realised they were one of the last groups on the field. It was foggy, and he could see Erwin jogging towards the office building before he disappeared into the mist entirely. It seemed strange – he almost expected to see Annie somewhere, but she was hiding today. Reluctantly, he began jogging towards the changing rooms.

Maths was next, and even then, there was an awkward silence hanging over the class. Usually the teacher had to take some force to get them all to quieten down, but today they could start the lesson immediately. Eren couldn’t focus on the work, though. He kept staring at the page, but the words weren’t going in. He slumped his head slightly, breathing out heavily. “Hey man, you alright?” Connie asked him quietly, and Eren shrugged. “I don’t know,” he admitted, “I’m worried about Krista,”

Connie hummed in agreement, “I hear you. I feel sorry for the girls, though – I mean, they were there when…”

Eren nodded, finally putting his pencil down. “Yeah. Mikasa came to class anyway, but she’s shaken, and well, you can see how anxious Sasha is,” They both turned to observe her. She sat in the back row of class, next to the window. She was tapping her foot, her eyes darting between watching the driveway of the school through the glass and staring at her watch. There were bags under her eyes and her hair was messy – clearly she hadn’t tried to brush it this morning. “Oh geez, I feel so sorry for her. She didn’t even eat at breakfast,” Connie murmured, running a hand over his head.

“ _That’s_ nothing compared to Ymir. She refused to come to class today. Petra tried to get her up, but she just screamed at her to fuck off. She threw her alarm clock at her,” Eren told him.

“Fuck…it’s so strange, though, don’t you think? Krista nearly drowning and all. It just seems really creepy,”

Eren swallowed hard, running his hands through his hair. “Well, Levi always says there’s a lot of weeds at the bottom of the lake, she just got caught in that –“

Connie rolled his eyes, “Yeah I know, but she literally just put her hands in the water and got caught. How does that even happen?”

Eren thought about telling him why – the real reason. Because she’d been dragged under by a vengeful bitch who he was sure had every intention to make sure Krista did not stay alive. But then again  - Levi had always said that nobody would ever believe him if he said anything. He was about to dismiss Connie’s implications, when there was a knock at the door. Erwin stood in the doorway, his face stern and controlled as always. “Sorry for the intrusion,” he said quickly, “but I’m looking for Eren Jaeger.”

Eren felt awkward and immediately self-conscious walking next to Erwin. It’s not that he resented him, but he couldn’t help feel a little bit inadequate next to him. He was after all, a very important man to Levi. He’d known Levi for years, not to mention that he and Levi had tried to have a relationship together in the past. He couldn’t help feeling nervous. “So uh,” he began feebly.

“I’m sorry about interrupting your maths lessons. I just thought this was something you’d want to know,” Erwin explained quickly. Eren nodded,

“Can I know, or…?”

“Wait until we meet up with the others.”

 

Erwin brought him into a little, private room just off from the library. It was clearly a reading or a sitting room of some sort, with large overstuffed sofas and chairs. Occupying one of the sofas, were Marco and Bertholdt – Bert’s arm still strapped up, recovering. And in an armchair that was way too big for her little frame, was Krista. “Oh my god, you’re okay,” Eren breathed, racing across the room, leaning down and hugging her. She was stiff, but after a moment or two, she wrapped her arms around him. Reluctantly, Eren stood up, turning to face Erwin, who had sat himself in the chair opposite Krista. He perched on the edge of the sofa, next to Marco. There was a table in the middle of them, and on it, was a book. A yearbook – for Rose Academy. “What’s going on?” Bert asked, Marco looking up eagerly too,

“Yeah – are we in trouble? I don’t think I did anything wrong,” he mumbled quietly, and Erwin shook his head,

“No, Marco, you didn’t do anything wrong,” he pursed his lips, putting his hands in his pockets, “Krista…it seems it would be easier if you were to explain this one,” he suggested, and the small girl nodded, pulling her cardigan down over her wrists. They were heavily bruised and red from where she had been pulled. “Erwin asked me…if I could get my grandmother’s yearbook, for him to look through. Well, my father found it recently, and brought it with him when he came to visit me in the hospital. He said he looked through it before he gave it to me, and that…there were a letter in there, and he wasn’t sure what to do. He gave it to me, and well…I think it speaks for itself, really,” she said, tucking some hair behind her ear. Erwin stood up, leaning over to flip the yearbook open to a marked page. The boys leaned in to look.

Three boys and two girls sat together on a picnic blanket in front of the English Block, the boys spread out in the middle, the girls sitting close together at the edge of the picture. They weren’t recognizable though. Their faces had all been scribbled out so much it was absolutely impossible to tell who they were. “Someone was pissed,” Eren commented, and Erwin nodded.

“That is…Frieda Reiss’ yearbook. This is the school’s copy,” he said, flicking through another book, setting the open page down in front of them. The boys all gasped. “Do you recognise your grandparents?” Erwin asked, pointing to each person, telling them who they were. “Looks like Frieda was angry at your grandparents. I wonder why. Well, I did wonder why, but luckily, it looks like that was eating her up inside too, and she had to get it out. She wrote a letter for Krista’s father, before she died. Do you want to know what it says?” Erwin asked, and the boys looked at each other momentarily, Marco swallowing hard. Bertholdt broke out in a cold sweat. Eren turned back to look at Krista, and she was just staring at the table, her eyes dark and stormy. Erwin unfolded a yellowed piece of paper, and began to read.

“ _Dear Rod,_

“ _I have no idea how to explain the situation to you. I am so sorry for writing this, for putting you through this, but I’m afraid if I don’t tell you, I’ll go mad. I cannot stay silent any longer. The guilt is crippling. You deserve to know what I did, and you should hate me for it. What I did is horrifying. And you deserve to know the truth._

“ _It happened in secondary school, when I was in fifth form. I had a nice, close knit group – you’ll probably recognise the surnames; you probably have their family in your classes. There was Fubar, Braun and Jaeger. My friend Amelia was there, but I heard she got married to a Lucas Bodt some years ago. And of course, there was me. There was also another girl in our year. Her name was Annie Leonhardt. And we hated her with a  passion. She was unpleasant, cold, lazy... She never put any effort into anything – yet she was getting top scores! We absolutely hated her. Everyone did, really. But us especially. She hadn’t been the kindest, to Jaeger. To any of us, really. She was a bully. Oh hell, I’ll say it. She was an ass._

“ _You went to Rose Academy. You must have heard the stories. She’s dead. She died. I should watch what I say about the dead girl – show more respect. But the truth is, I already did the most disrespectful, disgusting thing to her, and so speaking of her that way means nothing anymore. You see, I put her in that grave. It’s my fault. It’s all of our faults. Jaeger was so angry – Braun too. We just wanted her to stop what she was doing. It was horrific. And so, I said it. “What if  we make it so she can’t hurt anyone else again?” Slowly, the others started agreeing, and we put together a plan. The boys would wait for her, in her-_ “

“I get it!” Bertholdt cried, silencing Erwin. “I get it,” he repeated again, looking at the others. It didn’t feel real. It couldn’t be real. This wasn’t… this couldn’t be. Marco shook his head. “No, I don’t get it. I don’t understand. What…what did they do?”

“They pushed her, Marco,” Krista snapped. “Our grandparents _murdered_ her. It’s their fault. All of this,”

Marco shook his head, “my grandma’s a murderer?” he whimpered. Bertholdt had his head in his hands, and he was breathing heavily. Eren sat back, staring into space. His brain wasn’t functioning. This couldn’t be real. He felt so helpless, so lost. He licked his lips, and let out a shaky breath. “What are we going to do now?”

Erwin carefully closed the books on the table, sliding Frieda’s note back between the pages. Eren wanted to know what the rest of it said. “Who was it?” he asked, and Erwin furrowed his brows.

“What do you mean?”

“They said that…they saw one boy in the attic with her. Who was it?”

There were two people in the room who it could have been. Bertholdt or him. Reiner wasn’t there – Reiner’s grandfather can’t have been it. It was one of the two. Erwin looked between the two of them. “Eren, I don’t think you want to know,” he said softly.

“I have a right to know what my grandfather _did_ , Erwin,” he hissed, clenching his jaw.

“Yes, but I don’t want to know, so just shut up, please,” Bertholdt mumbled, his hand shaking as he ran his hand through his hair.

“I don’t think this is somewhere my opinion matters, and it hardly seems worth having the police investigating anymore then they have. Your teachers will be made aware that you might not be back to your lessons. You guys can choose what to do next,” Erwin said softly, taking the books with him as he left.

 

 Krista ran her hands through her hair, and she breathed out heavily. “I’m sorry. I thought really hard about whether to show him or not, but I thought…you all had the right to know,” she put her hands in her lap, and Eren couldn’t help himself from staring at the marks on her wrists. Marco nodded, “I just. I feel so guilty,” Krista stood up, grabbing the yearbook from the table.

“You shouldn’t. This happened nearly 80 years ago – it wasn’t our fault so we have no reason to feel responsible,” she reasoned.

“Are you going back to class now?” Eren asked as she started making her way towards the door.

“No… I want to sleep. I didn’t have a chance to sleep in the hospital, and I’m tired,” she said, her voice calm and even. He didn’t understand how she could just depersonalise it like that. Someone died, and she was saying that it wasn’t any of her business.

“I get what she’s saying, but I still feel like I’ve done something,” Bertholdt confessed and Marco nodded,

“I feel sick.” No one really knew what to do after that. Eren wanted to do something to stop the sinking feeling in his stomach, but he couldn’t shake it. This was something that could never be changed. He knew it had nothing to do with him, but he also felt like it had everything to do with him. “Are you going to go back to your lessons?” he asked, instead of voicing his own opinion.

“Probably not. I just, don’t want to see anyone else right now, really,” Marco admitted.

“Well…you need to go get your stuff from your lessons anyway, I might as well tag along with you for that,”

“Are you going back to your dorm too?”

“I wanna talk to Mikasa first, but yeah, I guess,” he murmured, standing up to try and urge the other boys out of the room too.

 

They arrived at the lockers on the bottom floor of the English block and Eren decided to wait for them down there – no use crowding the classrooms upstairs. He waited until Bertholdt and Marco had gone up the stairs before sliding down to the floor, and rubbing his hands over his eyes. Fuck.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. This wasn’t…oh god. This was real. This happened. This really…shit. This wasn’t supposed to happen. He wanted to go home. Being away from Shiganshina was supposed to help. It was supposed to make him better. But everything was just getting worse. He couldn’t stand it here. He heard footsteps approaching down the corridor, and he whipped his head round to see Levi standing in the doorway. “Hey you,” he said, as he began making his way towards Eren. “Erwin told me he took you out of lessons, but why’re you in the English block now?”

“Waiting for my friends to get their stuff so we can go back to our dorms,” he answered simply.

“I can’t imagine what Erwin said to you was good,” Levi muttered, and Eren shook his head.

“No, it wasn’t,”

“Was it to do with Annie?” Eren hesitated before answering.

“Yeah,” he whispered, dropping his head.

Levi grabbed Eren, gently getting him to stand up on his feet.  “Hey, hey, don’t worry okay?” he murmured, putting his hand on Eren’s cheek, tipping his face downwards so he could reach. Levi brushed the tip of his nose against Eren’s before kissing him softly. “Whatever it is,” he whispered, brushing his hands through Eren’s hair, “I’m sure it doesn’t matter now,” and he reached up to kiss him again.

Eren wanted so badly to believe Levi, but he couldn’t stop the panicking feeling. It mattered. It made all the difference. This was just…nothing else could even come close to what Eren was feeling again. And deep in the back of his mind, he kept hearing those voices calling to him. _It’s happening again. It’s all happening again. You’re a monster, Eren, you always have been._

He heard Bertholdt cough awkwardly, and turned to see Marco and Bert stood in the stairway. “We can err, give you more time,” Marco stammered, and Levi shook his head,

“No, I should be getting back to class anyway,” he said, kissing Eren firmly on the cheek. “If you want to talk, we have all evening,” he reminded him, letting go and turning to go back to class.

 

Eren found himself sitting in Levi’s room instead of his own. He felt kind of sorry for Thomas – being all alone in the room. He’d found himself only going back to that room to get clothes now, and whilst there was no one else in the boys dormitories, it might have been an ideal opportunity to move all of his bags. He was halfway through dragging his suitcase down the hallway when he heard the door to the common room open. He’d just assumed that it was sixth formers, and had kept dragging his suitcase. But it seemed like the silence around him suddenly became stiffer - even quieter than silence. He couldn’t help but shiver. He stopped in the middle of the corridor, chilled suddenly. After that, there was a cold breeze of air, and what sounded like someone exhaling in his ear, and Eren ran the rest of the way to Levi’s room, shutting himself in and sinking to the floor. “Fuck,” he whispered again, running his hands through his hair again.

 

The rest of the evening had returned him to normality. He was almost able to forget what he’d been told earlier. Things were still the same. Things were gunna be the same as they were before. It was going to be okay. The sinking feeling he’d had earlier had lifted, and he was able to bring himself to sleep. He was using Levi as a pillow, his leg wrapped around him, when a shrill siren ripped through the quiet. Levi bolted up in bed, throwing Eren off him. The younger boy groaned as Levi tore off the covers and began throwing on his hoodie and trousers. “What is it, Levi?” he grumbled, rubbing his eyes.

“Get dressed Eren, quickly,” he snapped.

“What’s going on?”

“It’s the fire alarm,”

That was all it took for Eren to start throwing his clothes on too. Levi was storming through the dormitory, knocking and opening doors, giving people instructions on where to go. He was calling out instructions constantly, and Eren had no choice but to help him in herding people in the right direction. Him and Petra were the last ones out of the dorms, and Eren could see the anxiety and paleness in his face as he kept searching around them, making sure everyone was safe, his hand subconsciously wrapped over his stomach.

They filed out onto the front field, and only then did Eren see the relative calmness of the night lit up with the red light of fire. He couldn’t believe it. The South Wing of the Maria Dorm was on fire. Students were running out madly, there was disorder everywhere. It seemed like hell compared to the calm fashion Nelson house had evacuated in.

There were people lying down on the grass, others being tended to by other students. He saw Armin lying on the ground, Jean cradling his head in his lap, Mikasa holding an inhaler. The two of them seemed to be whispering words of encouragement to him as his chest heaved and he struggled to breathe. He saw Bert crying as Reiner pulled him into a hug, and Connie stood by trying to comfort them, though it was obvious Connie himself was barely holding it together. Ymir was checking Krista all over, and there were tears in her eyes when she realised that she was okay. She held her close to her body, burying her face in Krista’s hair.

He heard screaming and he turned to see Hanji. She was distraught, and Mike was forcefully holding her by the waist to stop her from dashing into the burning building again. Erwin had her firmly by the arms, and the other leaders were trying to reason with her. “Hanji, you can’t do this,” Erwin was saying, and she shook her head,

“Erwin you don’t, you don’t _understand_ , oh god, oh god, oh god, one of them is still in there!”

“Hanji you can’t-“

“He’s still in there! He’s not gunna survive, please, you have to let me, he can’t, Erwin, he’s gunna _die_ ,” she was pleading, her shoulders shaking as she tried to resist the two boys. Eren could hear the wailing of the sirens as he stood and watched. “Who’s in there, Hanji? Who is it? Do you know who it is?” Petra was asking, and Moblit ran his hands through his hair.

“I counted again now and we’re one short, I’m sure of it. We’re missing a year ten – Marco Bodt, I think I remember Armin saying,”

And just like that Eren felt the whole world cave in on him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fire fire everywhere (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧  
> Also guys I was wondering what your favourite scene from this fanfiction so far was??


	17. A Monster Like You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Did Marco survive? What was it Eren did?  
> Finally answering questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After this, you got one last chapter and an epilogue. Have fun.

It all happened in a blur - the firefighters and the ambulance crew arriving and running to action. They were asking where Marco’s room was, running in through the flames to try and rescue him. They carried him out on a stretcher, and as he was hurried past Eren he could see him writhing, moaning – the ambulance crew trying to get him to lay still, to ease the pain. His left side was charred, red, and bloody. The ambulance flashed and wailed as it hurried off. Eren thought about how likely it was for Marco to survive. He didn’t know. He didn’t _want_ to know. He just wanted this to stop. The upper floors of the dormitory were still on fire, and he absently looked up to the building. His eye was drawn to one of the upper story windows, straight into the eyes of Annie. She was a thick dark shape among the flames, and Eren wanted so much for them to swallow her up and for that to be the end of it. He hated her. He hated her so much. A piece of debris fell from the ceiling in the room and she vanished again.

Eren started looking around the scene again. Hanji was on the grass now; Levi slumped up next to her. They both looked close to tears. Levi ran a hand through his hair and leaned back onto Hanji, turning to murmur something in her ear. Armin’s asthma attack had subsided, and he now lay in Mikasa’s arms, his eyes shut. Mikasa was cradling him, her eyes were watching Jean, though.

Jean. Oh god. He was sat there, his head in his hands. Mikasa was trying to comfort him, but he kept shaking his head. Eren breathed out shakily, and moved over to them. “He’s gunna be okay. He can’t get burned that severely in such short a time. He’s going to survive, okay?”

“Mikasa, you don’t know that – Armin said he was right next to the fire when it started,” he licked his lips, “he’s gunna die.”

“Jean, hey, Jean,” Eren started saying, and Jean looked up. “It’s going to be difficult right now, but you saying he’s going to die isn’t going to make his chances improve. Right now Marco’s going to do his best to survive. It’s out of our control now,” he looked around, trying to catch the eye of one of the leaders to help him.

“I _know_ that, Eren. It’s just…he didn’t fucking deserve this. I don’t know why he was even by the fire – he should have been asleep! It doesn’t make any sense,” Eren thought about how he’d found himself in a dream like state, drifting towards the fireplace. If Levi hadn’t interrupted him, he could have ended up just like Marco now.

He managed to catch Levi and Erwin’s eye, and the two of them began walking over. Levi wrapped his arms around Eren from behind, kissing him on the cheek. “You alright?” he murmured, nuzzling into his hair. Eren breathed out heavily,

“That’s Marco’s best friend, Jean,” he whispered back, and Levi sucked in a breath.

“Hey, Jean, look at me a sec, alright,” he said softly. It took a moment, but he did eventually look up at Levi. “Marco’s going to be fine. That hospital’s burns unit is great. He’s going to be with doctors who will stop at nothing to help him - he’ll have constant care and I promise you he will recover from this,” Levi said, his voice firm.

“How do you know?” Jean murmured, running his hand through his hair. Levi bit his lip before shaking his head and pulling his hoodie up, displaying his stomach. Jean gasped, his cheeks turning hot. “I’m err, I didn’t know that you –“

“It doesn’t look like much but I was burned in a similar way to Marco. I went to that hospital. They will let you come and visit him too, and they have a great support system – they’d never leave you stranded. So when I promise you that Marco’s going to be alright, I’m not just talking out of my ass. He’s going to be okay – different, yes, and scarred, yes, but okay. All you need to do is be there to support him when he comes back to school.” He pulled down his hoodie and shrugged. He really wasn’t good at comforting people. Jean’s eyebrows furrowed as he watched Levi, before his face crumpled completely, and he burst into tears. Eren bit his lip, crouching to try and comfort him. He and Mikasa had no idea what to do. He just couldn’t understand what to do. It felt like a dream – something he could wake up from. “I’m gunna go check with the teachers what we’re supposed to do now,” Levi muttered, patting Eren on the shoulder for a moment before walking off.

He waited until he was out of sight before he broke down. He pressed his lips into a firm line, cupping his hands over his mouth. He was so scared. He remembered it all. He remembered the pain, and the fear that he was going to die in that fire. He remembered what he was thinking, how he was begging for _somebody_ to help him. He’d kept it all locked away, but seeing the flames lick at the sky just now, it unleashed all of that fear. He couldn’t stop himself shaking. He fisted his hair angrily, biting his lip to keep the whimpers down. He had to think clearly, he had to be on his feet. He was the leader of his house – he needed to be ready to give instruction…but he couldn’t bring himself to get up. Even when he heard someone approaching him on the gravel path. Instead of getting up, he just curled in on himself even more, hoping whoever it was would just pass him by. The sight of someone crying wasn’t so uncommon, considering the situation. “Levi?” Shit, it was Erwin. The boy approached slowly, reaching out his hand to pat him on the shoulder, and Levi bit his lip, “don’t-“

“Touch you, yeah yeah, I know, I wasn’t going to,” Erwin murmured, sitting himself down on the gravel. “I won’t touch you, sure, but I’m also not going to leave you with you like this,” he insisted. Levi ran his hands through his hair.

“I should really go and ask what we’re doing now,” Levi said, and Erwin sighed.

“Or you could pull yourself together first,” he suggested. Levi breathed out shakily, resting his head on his hands. “You’re scared, right?” Erwin asked, and Levi just continued breathing unevenly trying to get himself under control, covering his face again. “And that’s natural after what you’ve been through before. If you weren’t afraid, you’d be pretty fucked up,”

“I _am_ pretty fucked up, though,”

Erwin sighed, “What you did for Jean back there was good – you comforted him even though you were scared. I wasn’t expecting you to do that for him,”

“Well, we know what he’s feeling more than anyone right now, it was the least I could do,”

Erwin nodded, letting his head rest against the wall behind him. “You know, the night of the fire that burned you…I thought you were gunna die, too. I was terrified that I was going to lose my friend. After my dad died, I didn’t think I could cope with anyone else dying. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come out of surgery,” he admitted. Levi looked down, shrugging.

“Sometimes I wish I hadn’t woken up, and that I didn’t have to deal with all of this, and the scars left behind, but recently I haven’t been feeling like that,”

“Do you think it’s because of Eren?” Erwin asked, pulling his jacket sleeves down, trying to warm himself more.

“Well he certainly has improved things a lot,” Levi admitted.

“I can’t wait until him and Isabel meet,” Erwin said, smirking.

“Oh god, they’ll break _everything_ in the house,” Levi chuckled, shaking his head. “I think I’m okay now. I just needed to stop for a bit,” It was only after Levi had spoken that Erwin finally reached out to comfortingly grab his shoulder.

There was bedding set up in the hall for those who couldn’t go back to their dormitory, and there was a promise to salvage what could be saved from the fire, as well as no lessons for a few days starting immediately from the next morning. However, it wasn’t enforced that the Fawcett and Churchill Houses had to stay in the halls, and as long as they were registered and accounted for, they could sleep in friend’s rooms. And that was how the majority of Eren’s group ended up sleeping in Erwin’s room. Erwin had originally just invited his close friends and Eren, but Mikasa didn’t want to leave Eren, and she also didn’t want to leave Armin, and the cycle went on. In the end, it resulted in Erwin, Levi, Mike and Hanji all managing to squeeze their way into the bed, with Petra and Nanaba taking the windowsill, and the rest on the floor. Mikasa, Armin and Eren had all slumped in a corner – Eren realising it was his turn to hold Armin. He had the blond resting against his chest, his chin on the top of his head. Everyone else in the room seemed to be asleep - he could hear their soft breathing and snores. It was early in the morning now, and Eren’s own eyes stung. “Mika, you awake?” He whispered. He felt her stir from her position leaning on his shoulder.

“Mm?”

“I’m sorry, were you asleep?”

“Not really, just dozing.” She said softly, sitting up on her own. “I’m surprised Jean managed to go to sleep, after all that’s happened tonight,” she pointed out, her eyes resting on the boy’s sleeping figure as he used Connie’s stomach as a pillow.

“Well I suppose with all that stress, he had to recharge at some point,” they let silence fall between the two of them. Mikasa rearranged her scarf, looking at Eren as he petted Armin. “It’s all happening again, Mika,” he whimpered. He didn’t stop running his hands through Armin’s hair, but she could tell by the way his shoulders moved that he was crying. “I don’t want to go through this again. I don’t…I was _so tired_ after last time. I can’t do that again, but I just feel like I’m…slipping.”

“It’s not the same as last time,” she said firmly, pulling her knees up to her chest.

“Do you know what Erwin told me?”

“What?”

“That my grandfather…helped to kill a girl, when he was here.” He could feel Mikasa physically tense at that. “I’m so scared, Mika. What if I do that? What if I end up hurting someone for fun?” He pulled at the ends of his hair, pressing his lips together so she couldn’t hear him shivering and whimpering. Mikasa slowly moved to grab his hand. “Do you want to hurt people like that?”

“No! Well, sometimes! I just get so angry…”

“But you’d never plan to kill anyone?”

“Never, I swear,”

“Then you’re not like him. You’d never help plan someone’s murder. I know you, Eren. You’re part of my family and I know you’d never hurt anyone like that. You’re a good person, no matter what you think,” she whispered.

He nodded, “I need to tell him what we did, Mikasa,”

“Levi?”

“I need to tell him. I can’t…the guilt is crippling. It feels like I’m lying to him,” he reasoned, his voice becoming louder for a moment. She breathed out heavily, “if you want him to know…we didn’t do anything wrong, after all.”

 

The next day was punctuated with clean-up of the dormitory. It wasn’t badly burned – the common room for Fawcett was the worst damaged, but the rooms were relatively unscathed. A lot of the students seemed to be packing up – cars were moving up and down the driveway that day, people piling in. “What’s going on?” Eren asked Ymir, as he watched Jean packing his stuff silently into the back of a car as quickly as he could. “There’s been an accident. School is damaged. A lot of people don’t want to stay here at the moment, so they’re leaving. Can’t really blame them,” she answered.

“Are other people leaving?”

“Jean, Bertholdt, Reiner, and Krista,”

“Shit, I’m sorry,”

“Nah it’s okay, I said goodbye to her this morning. She said she’s coming back after the winter break though, so it’s not all bad,” she side glanced at Eren, “why don’t you leave?”

He shrugged, “my dad went back to Germany for a month or two and he wasn’t scheduled to be back before the start out our Christmas holidays. He can’t pick me up, really,” he reasoned, “Why aren’t you?”

“Why should I? Marco’s injuries don’t concern me in the slightest. No reason to leave,” she murmured, turning around to head back to her room.

He had every reason to leave. Krista had fled – so had Bertholdt and Reiner. They were smart. But where was he supposed to go after that? His dad had talked about moving back to Germany, away from the painful memories England held for them. He’d made a mess of things here, but it seemed like defeat to run now. He didn’t want to leave. He didn’t want to lose Levi. Besides Mikasa, he had been one person outside of his family who had made him hopeful about what life held for him. Leaving now would mean leaving him behind, and he wasn’t going to do that. He wasn’t about to give up on Levi.

 

Dinner was fairly empty that night. It seemed like at least a fifth of the students had left already, and the spaces stuck out. The room was quieter, and no one could really think of anything to say. Eren was especially quiet too - what he was about to do weighing in on his mind. “Could you…go back to the room, Levi? I need to tell you something when I get back,” he said. He could hear his own heartbeat in his ears, the anxiety making his mind foggy. “Sure. Just don’t be too late back, alright, Eren?” the shorter boy had said, getting up from the table.

Eren went back to Maria Dorm after that, looking at the blown out windows, the crisp black ash on the grass outside. There were lights on in the rooms – girls chatting animatedly with one another. It almost felt as if this wasn’t the sight of a horrible accident.

He saw Annie at the window of one of the empty rooms. He didn’t know how he saw her, but he managed to pick her out among the shadows. Her eyes bearing down on him, tilting her head, her hand pressed to the glass. He turned his back to begin making his way back to the room, and although he felt fear in his throat, he pushed it down. She could hurt him, he knew she could. But he just didn’t care.

He hesitated before knocking on Levi’s door. “Come in, Eren, you don’t need to knock,” was the reply, and he shakily put his hand on the handle, letting himself in. Levi was sat on the bed in an oversized sweater, a book resting in his lap. “What was it you wanted to talk about?” he asked as Eren sat himself down next to him. Eren furrowed his brows, his fingers shaking as he curled and uncurled them on his lap. That itself made Levi sit up straighter. Eren couldn’t back out now. “I just. I need to tell you this, okay? I don’t care how you react. I don’t care. I just need you to know,” he breathed out shakily, looking at Levi one last time before starting his story.

“My dad was going on a check-up to the Ackerman household, and he took me with him because my mum was ill and I didn’t have anyone else who could take me. So he just took me to work, no big deal, but this time…we knocked on the door and no one was replying, So I looked through the window and there was blood. So much blood,” he began choking up and shook his head, “I don’t want to talk about it…but the two parents were dead. And my dad kept insisting that there was a girl – that they had a daughter, and we just couldn’t find her anywhere. My dad called the police, and he told me to go home - that it wasn’t the place for children.

“My home is kinda…near this wooded area, and when I got home I could hear someone screaming from the woods. So I took a knife, and I went in to try and find them. I found a small shack, and I knew. I just knew that was where the girl was. It doesn’t make sense now, thinking about it – but I knew it. So I knocked on the door, and a man answered, and when he was talking I saw the girl lying on the floor, and her face was all bruised and swollen and bloody. I just got so mad. How could they treat her like that. She was eight years old, and they beat her whilst she was tied up. I was so angry I was seeing red, and I turned to the man in front of me and I just…I stabbed him,” his voice failed him, and he whispered the last part. He prayed for Levi not to have heard him. But he had. And the words kept bubbling out of Eren without him meaning to anymore. “I don’t really remember what happened after that, but before I knew it, there was another one of them, and I got him on the floor and I was stabbing him over and over and over again. I didn’t mean to kill them… I only meant to…to unarm them, and save her. I didn’t _mean to_. I cut the girl out of her restraints, and we were going to get out of there, when I felt this pain in my side. It hurt so much, it burned so much…I dropped the knife, and I couldn’t get back up. There was so much blood pouring out,” he shakily drew up his shirt, exposing the scar. “He stabbed me – the third man. There was a third man there, and he…” he explained, though it hardly needed explaining. “I thought I was going to bleed out on the floor. It ached so much, and I was getting so dizzy. The girl just sat there, crying. I didn’t wanna die like that. Eight years old, lying in a pool of my own blood - that’s not what I wanted. So I started begging her to fight. To save us. I told her she had to,” he licked his lips. He wasn’t exactly sure when he’d started crying, but he could feel the tears rolling down his cheeks now. “I _forced_ her…and she picked up my knife, and she lunged at him, and she killed him.” He ran his hands through his hair, wiping his face helplessly. “I’ve told so many people that story, so many officers and doctors. I was okay for a little bit. I had to move schools – somewhere outside Shiganshina, ‘cuz they all knew. They knew I was a murderer. I thought I did the right thing, god…I thought that I was right. And then mum started getting sick, and I just fell apart. It was like I was being punished…she was being punished, for what I did. I couldn’t take it. She died and I… flipped. I had to take a year out of school. Dad didn’t think I was gunna come back for a little while, that I was just gunna leave education and not come back. Mikasa helped me. She was…I saved her. My sister. We did that together.” He didn’t know what else to say. That was it. He’d told it uninterrupted - the truth. He didn’t want to look at Levi’s face. He must have been disgusted. He looked up.

Levi was just staring back at Eren. His expression was unreadable, and that made it all the more terrifying. “I had to tell you – I felt like you had a right know that I’m…a monster. You say you love me, but you didn’t know and I felt so bad that I-“

“Shut up, Eren, please,” Levi said. Eren shut his mouth. “You killed two men,” Levi said, and the brunet just nodded. He let out a sigh, running his hands through his hair. “I don’t know what you want me to say. I wasn’t expecting that. I…fuck. I don’t know what to say,” he kept murmuring.

Eren swallowed. “Do you still love me?”

Levi looked up, “if you’re asking because you think I’m afraid of you, I’m not. You’re still the same Eren. This was a part of you before I met you…before I fell in love with you. It’s still the same.” He explained, “but it’s a shock. You have to understand that. This is a shock.” Eren looked down like a small child being told off. He knew this was a lot to spring on him, especially at a time like this. He jumped a little bit when Levi pulled him into a hug. “Don’t look like a kicked puppy, you moron. I’m not rejecting you,” he said firmly, running his hands through Eren’s hair. The brunet smiled at that. Levi drew back, and Eren found himself running his hands over Levi’s face, over his body. “Thank you,” he whispered, pressing kisses to his forehead, cheeks, lips, wherever he could, “thank you.” He kissed him again, stronger than he ever had before. He could feel Levi holding his back tightly, like he didn’t want to let him go.

Eren woke up late the next morning. Alone. He reached out his arm and found that Levi was gone. The space where he should have been wasn’t even warm. _Of course_ , he thought to himself, fighting back the tears, _who would want to stay with a monster like you?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I'm gunna update the last two chapters at the same time? Like there's really no reason to withhold the epilogue because it doesn't really add to the story any. Thank you to all the people who have stayed with this story, you are all a part of my first multichaptered completed fanfiction. It's a miracle.


	18. Far Too Late

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Final Chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry.

Erwin woke to knocking. Aggressive knocking – like the person was trying to possibly break the door off its hinges. “What the fuck is that?” Mike murmured, rolling over in his space on the floor. Erwin sighed,   
“Levi,” he simply explained, siting up in bed. As if on cue, they heard shouting through the door.

“Erwin fucking Smith, answer me you piece of literal shit,”

“Always had the most sophisticated language skills of the English prefects, didn’t he?” Nanaba muttered, snuggling into Mike. Erwin slowly shifted out of bed, shuffling over to the door.

“Levi it’s like half seven in the morning, what do you want?” he asked, opening the door slowly. Levi angrily forced the door open the rest of the way, storming in. “Mike, Nanaba, get the fuck out,” he yelled, throwing the covers off the two of them.

“Levi what the heck-“

“Get out!”

“Where are we supposed to go?”

“Go hang out with Eren in my room, go irritate Petra, I don’t care, just get the fuck _out_ ,” he hissed. Mike seemed to get the hint then, because him and Nanaba swiftly left Erwin’s room. The blond boy sat down on his bed, running a hand through his hair. He looked different in the morning, when he hadn’t brushed his hair or neatened up. “Do you want to explain why you just threw those two out?” he asked. Levi ran his hands through his hair, “Your mum has Kenny’s number, right? For his halfway house, or whatever. She has his number so I can contact him?” he asked. Erwin sat up straighter,

“Well yeah, but you can only use it for emergencies and she told me-“

“This _is_ an emergency, Erwin. Just get me his number, please,” he sat down on Erwin’s bed, sighing. The blond watched cautiously, being sure to keep his distance. Levi had a history of becoming violent when he was stressed out. He picked up his phone and got to work.

Levi curled up on the bed, sighing heavily. He hadn’t been lying about Kenny being in prison. The man was in a halfway home now – there was hardly a difference. His parents had reluctantly let Erwin’s mum have the number, but they didn’t want Levi getting a hold of it. He wasn’t Kenny’s child anymore, so he didn’t have to have anything to do with that man. But despite that, he wanted to have a relationship with him. He was seven when he was given up for adoption, and he still remembered their life together. It was nowhere near as peaceful and comforting as his home now, but it was enjoyable. And Kenny was the only one who could give him advice now.

Erwin clicked his fingers over his shoulder, and Levi looked up. He stared at him momentarily before turning around and continuing his conversation with his mother, sliding a scrap of paper across the desk. Kenny’s number. “I have to go now, bye,” Erwin murmured into the phone, putting it down. “You gunna be okay?” he asked Levi as he picked up the number, staring at it. The shorter boy nodded slowly,

“I have to go find somewhere quiet where I can call him,” he mumbled, turning around and leaving Erwin’s room.

He sat himself down on the edge of the lake. They were going to start setting up a fence around the perimeter after Krista’s accident. He was lucky now – he wouldn’t be able to sit like that later on in the year. He looked around, making sure that no one else was there. And then he took out the number and his phone, and shakily began to dial. It took two or three rings before anyone picked up, “I’m looking for Kenny Ackerman,” he said praying that his voice wasn’t shaking. The voice on the other end grunted, “Who’re you?”

“Levi Ackerman,”

“Oh, I see, I’ll go wake him up.” What followed that was a series of scuffling sounds and low murmurs, and then he heard the voice.

“Yo Levi, haven’t heard you since last year. What’re you doing?”

“I need advice,” he admitted after a moment or two. There was a sigh,

“Levi, I told you, if you need boyfriend advice, go to your mum,”

“It’s not boyfriend advice I need,” Levi said quickly, and Kenny groaned.

“Okay, so what is it?”

“I was talking with my boyfriend Eren last night and he told me about-“

“Oh my god Levi, what did I just fucking say? I don’t do boyfriend advice-“

“He said he killed two people,” he blurted out, and Kenny paused.

“Shit Levi, I’m still in a halfway home – you can’t just say stuff like that,”

“No like, he killed two people when he was a kid. He was investigated when he was younger, so…” he trailed off.

“So what’s the issue here?”

Levi pressed his lips together, not quite sure what to say. He was about to open his mouth when he heard loud voices coming from Kenny’s line, quickly followed by the man muttering “fuck,” and then “Can you guys shut the fuck up! My kid is on the phone,” and that made Levi smile a bit. Kenny gave him up, and pretended he wasn’t ever his child – that was normal for their relationship. But if Levi ever needed advice, they’d put the act of hating each other aside. “What is the problem?”

“Why does this happen to me? I mean, first you, and now my boyfriend? Why do people like you surround me? Why do they always walk into my life? I just want…to have a normal relationship, for once in my life. And I’m scared. He’s fifteen years old, and I’m scared of him. I mean he just…he stabbed two people. How can I…? What happens if he gets angry at me? If that happens when he got angry before, if I do something…I’m scared of what he’ll do,” he said, running his hands through his hair. Kenny sighed,

“I’m not good at advice,”

“I know that. But you know what to do better than anyone,”

“Why do I have to do this?”

“If you don’t want to have to give fatherly advice, don’t adopt unwanted kids,”

“…yeah,” he grumbled, pausing. “Look, Levi, you can do what your parents want you to do, and pretend you’re one of them. You can pretend that you’re a polite upper class boy and that you belong with those people. But you don’t, and you have to accept that. You’re not one of them – you learned to fight on the streets, and you taught yourself how to survive. That’s stuff I can’t un-teach you, I’m afraid. That’s the building blocks of your personality, so of course you’re not gunna attract all of the upper class boys. You’re going to attract weirder people who are similar to you,”

“But Erwin’s my friend,”

“Like I said, weird people,” there was a heavy breath out, “second of all, Levi, he was kid when he did that. Kids don’t hold their anger well – you should know that yourself. I trust the stress of killing two people is enough for him to keep his anger in check. He might get angry, but I don’t think he’d ever hurt someone like that again,”

Levi fell back on the grass. He was cold, and he probably should have put on a thicker hoodie, but he didn’t have that forethought as he left. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to think,” he whispered.

“Okay, listen. Your boyfriend loves you – trust me, it’s not easy putting up with you. And for someone to say they love you and they want to commit to you without having any family guilt feelings forcing them to? That guy is a fucking saint, no matter what he did. So the only question is does this change how you view him? Can you imagine him walking out of your life now? Do you want him gone now that you know that about him?”

Levi thought. He thought hard. He hadn’t had a lot of time together with Eren, but that kid was pretty darn perfect. He was determined, strong willed, and kind. He wasn’t good at everything – in fact he struggled more than he succeeded – but he didn’t give up easily. Levi knew he wouldn’t find someone quite like Eren again. He breathed out shakily, “I don’t want him to leave,” he admitted, and Kenny hummed.

“You already knew the answer. You’re just in shock. It can happen to anyone, really, ya know? Don’t worry about it. You’re just going through a rough patch, albeit a rather unique rough spot,” he answered.

“Yeah, I guess,” Levi replied. There was a silence on the line, and Kenny blew out angrily through his nose,

“I really am sorry that you couldn’t have grown up like your classmates,”

“Yeah, yeah,”

“I should have given you up for adoption straight away – given you a proper chance at life. Then maybe you would have grown taller,”

“Fuck off,”

“Heheh, all I’m saying is that your shitty height doesn’t run in the family. Unless your dad was a midget,”

“I don’t get what you’re saying?”

“I wanted to put you up for adoption, but…I felt so guilty. She made me promise to make sure you were safe, and I didn’t think I could do that if you were in foster care,”

“Wait, wait…what? Who made you promise?”

Kenny paused before answering. “Your mother did,”

His mother. The woman who abandoned him– pretended that he wasn’t alive, that he never existed. A woman he’d grown up without, but had always been curious of. Was she the person who gave him his black hair? His grey eyes? What facial features did he inherit from her? He always wanted to know. He hadn’t asked Kenny, because he assumed he knew as little as Levi did. “What the fuck?”

“How about when you come home for winter, you and your boyfriend can visit, and I’ll tell you about her,” Kenny suggested. Levi’s mind was racing. His mum. He’d find out who she was. And Eren would be a part of that experience – and that was what was exciting him the most. “But seriously, good luck with your boyfriend,”

“Eren. His name is Eren,”

“Oh well, good luck with Eren. If he _does_ , against all odds, lay a hand on you, well, he’ll have to deal with me and a bunch of other offenders knocking at his door, alright?” Levi smiled again.

“I’ll make sure to tell him that,” was the last thing he said to Kenny before ending the call. He felt better now – hopeful. He was still confused about what Eren had told him, but he felt slightly more at ease. He was never going to like the idea of Eren being a killer, but he could come to terms with it. He had things in his past that weren’t easy to confront either, and he hoped one day he would have the courage to entrust those to Eren too. This would make them stronger, he was sure.

 

Eren slammed his hands down on Levi’s desk, clearing everything off it in one sweep. He grabbed the chair, ripping it out of its place and throwing it to the other side of the room. It hit the bed side table, and toppled over. He knew he shouldn’t be doing this – it wasn’t Levi’s fault. He needed to take his anger out. He started hitting the walls, screaming at the top of his lungs. This was going to happen. He knew this was going to happen. He should have never fucking said anything. Who would want to stay with a monster like him? Who would want to stay with a murderer? He wasn’t supposed to have friends. He wasn’t supposed to be loved. He needed to be punished for what he did. And this was it. He was feeling it now.

He stopped hitting the wall. His hands ached and throbbed, and he clutched them to his chest as he slid to the floor. He screamed again, turning his anger inwards. He hit himself over and over again, hoping the pain was going to distract him. There was nothing he could do to redeem himself. He was fucked. And he deserved it. His mum didn’t deserve to get punished for what he did – and neither did Krista or Marco. No one deserved to get punished for what he was responsible for.

That’s when it hit him.

He _could_ fix that – maybe, just maybe. No one else had to get hurt. No one else had to die. He could fix it – if he just told her who it was, then she would stop. It was too late to save Krista, Bertholdt and Marco from her, but he could stop her from hurting anyone else. Maybe that would redeem him, just a little bit. If he could help her, then maybe it would ease his guilt. He could make this better.

He needed to do something – he couldn’t just sit in Levi’s room. So he got up. He got dressed, grabbed his jacket and left the room. He was going to go up to the attic, and he was going to solve this. He bumped into Mike on his way out of the room, gritting his teeth. “Whoa there Eren, sorry man, couldn’t see you down there,” the tall boy said, smirking. Eren just sighed, pushing past Mike.

“Fuck off and annoy someone else,” he hissed,

“Where’re you going?” Nanaba asked quietly, and Eren rolled his eyes,

“To fix things.” Mike and Nanaba just looked at each other as he stormed out of the block.

“Jesus, did him and Levi have a fight or something?”

 

“A fight? No, not really,” Levi said, furrowing his brows when Mike told him.

“Well you must have done something to the kid,” Nanaba reasoned. Levi pulled his jacket closer around himself.

“Why?”

“Well your room is _trashed_. Like seriously,”

Levi’s mind went fuzzy. Why would he do that? “Show me,” he murmured, storming back to his dormitory - Mike and Erwin anxiously following behind him. Was Eren angry at him? He must have been. He wouldn’t trash his room without reason – surely? There must have been a –

He opened the door, and Mike was right. His books were strewn all over the floor. His beds were stripped of their sheets, his desk chair lying on the floor. His work was ripped and torn in some places. “Seriously – are you sure you didn’t fight?” Erwin sucked in a breath, looking at the destruction.

“No we just had a…conversation,” Levi said in a quiet voice. But he knew what was wrong. He’d fucked up. He’d fucked up massively. He didn’t expect Eren to wake up whilst he was gone. He thought he’d still be asleep by the time he got back. Waking up alone after revealing something like that must have been…heart breaking. “Shit,” he whispered, running his hands through his hair. “Where is Eren now?”

Mike shrugged, “I don’t know – me and Nana ran into him, and he just said he was going to ‘fix things’.”

Levi felt a pit open in his stomach. He slid to the floor in the corridor. “Oh god,” he moaned.

“What is it?” Erwin asked, grabbing Levi’s knee. He could feel how serious this was. Levi just looked up at him and said one word.

“Annie.”

 

The attic felt colder than Eren remembered. And dark. It was early in the morning, but it still felt dark. The whole room felt like it had remained the same since that day nearly eighty years ago. He curled and uncurled his hands, trying to keep himself warm. Reluctantly, he stepped forward into the room. She was there. He knew she was there. He didn’t know what he was doing. He felt dumb talking out loud now. “So uh, I know that you’re angry at us. Like, the Jaegers, and the Fubars especially. I get it. If someone…pushed me out of a window, I’d be pretty pissed too,” he felt prickling on the back of his neck, and shivered. “So you know who it is now. You know who killed you. So this can stop. Right? This whole thing can just…stop. No one else needs to get hurt.”

There was no answer. No reply. He didn’t know what he was expecting. He turned, looking around the attic room. He felt sad in there. This was the room where Annie was supposed to feel most at home, and someone took that away from her. That wasn’t right.

A lot of the old furniture was covered in white sheets – he assumed that was supposed to prevent dust. He still wanted to know what was under them, and he began to uncover a lot of the pieces. Wardrobes, tables, chairs - nothing out of the ordinary. He had a few sheets left – one covering a tall, slim piece. He pulled the sheet down smoothly, and found himself staring back at himself. A mirror. The surface was grimy, and had dark spots on it. It somehow made the whole room that much darker in its reflection. He moved closer, inspecting the surface. That was when he saw it. Those cold, dead eyes staring back at him over his shoulder. He saw thin, tiny hands whispering up his arm, and he felt a cold spot moving up at the same time. The slender fingers paused at his shoulder, and only then did Eren finally react, jumping away from the mirror. He hit his head on a metal bed frame, cursing as he hit the floor. He felt dazed, confused. The room was spinning slightly. He knew he was in danger. He felt the panic build up in him, but he couldn’t cry out. His throat felt tight.

“Who pushed Annie Leonhardt?” The voice was echoing. He didn’t know where it was coming from. He felt something behind him, crawling closer and closer. He tried to get up but his legs gave out. His head spun. His chest was rising and falling, his breath quickening. His mind was racing. _Oh god please, Levi, someone, help me please, oh my god, someone, oh god, oh god, oh god._ He shut his eyes tight, and he felt those fingers crawling up his sides again, reaching closer. He felt the cold pull across his neck.

“It. Was. You.” Suddenly he couldn’t breathe anymore.

 

Levi raked his hands through his hair again, “where would he fucking _go_?” He hissed, doubling over. His whole body ached. He couldn’t think straight. He just wanted to find Eren. He needed to make sure he was alright. “Stressing isn’t going to make you find him,” Erwin reasoned. Levi stood back up, biting his nails.

“Where would you go to find Annie?”

Erwin rubbed his forehead. “I don’t know, Levi. He doesn’t even know it’s him who-“ He cut himself off quickly, and Levi squinted.

“He doesn’t know it’s him who what?” he pressed. Erwin breathed out heavily, slumping back against the wall.

“His grandfather was involved with Annie’s murder. One of the others confessed to it – said exactly what happened. I didn’t tell them who it actually was who pushed her. I think he knew anyway,”

“It was his grandfather, wasn’t it?”

Erwin just nodded. Levi covered his mouth. “That’s it, isn’t it? The place he’d go to reconcile with her – the place she died.”

He took off running as soon as he realised that. It was still early morning, barely anyone was about. He sped past one of the corners too fast, and he slid across the gravel, grazing his leg. Shit. He pulled himself off the ground, and he could already see the blood soaking through his trousers.  He didn’t have time for this. He could see the building now. He only had a little further to go. He could make it.

He heard the glass break before he saw it. Before he realised what was happening. A dark shape falling from the top floor. It didn’t register. He didn’t know. He just stood and watched. Disbelief filled him, and through all of those thoughts of “it can’t be” and “that’s impossible”, he _knew_. It was Eren. And there was no way he could save him. He hit the ground with a sickening crack, and Levi just stood there.

It was so quiet. The birds weren’t even singing. It was completely silent. He couldn’t even hear his own breathing. He was just staring.

He heard Erwin panting, running down the gravel path behind him. And yet, he stayed completely still. “Levi, what are you-“ Erwin looked from Levi to the attic window and eventually to the path bellow. “Eren. Oh Jesus. Levi we need to-“

“No we don’t need to. I mean. It’s not. It can’t be. That’s not. Eren. He was. It’s not,” he turned back to look at Erwin. He seemed so far away. “It’s not, it’s not, he isn’t,” he took a step forward, and Erwin seemed to know that he was falling before Levi even realised it. He caught Levi under the arms, steadying him.

“It’s _not_ him,”

And that’s when he finally broke down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still have the epilogue to go...I really am sorry for this ;_;


	19. The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What did Levi do next?

It was still dark when the alarm clock woke him. He sighed, rolling out of bed, shuffling out of the bedroom and into the main section of his apartment. Even with the lights on, it seemed dim – not that he was complaining. He didn’t exactly feel like blinding himself with bright lights at some ungodly hour of the morning. He ran a hand over his face, grumbling under his breath before shuffling over to start making his tea. He pressed play to hear the two answer phone messages they had on the system.

“Hey Erwin, Levi, I was just calling to make sure you received my and Nile’s wedding invitations and-“

“Oh we got them, and it’s a hell no, bitch,” he muttered, skipping through the message. He pulled a mug out of the cupboard as the second message began playing.

“Levi. It’s um, it’s Mikasa. I know it’s been a while, but…you know what day it is on Thursday. It’s been eight years, nearly…I just wanted to know if you wanted to meet for coffee or something. Talk about him. It’s okay if you don’t want to. Just call me back if you want to arrange a time, alright?”

Levi drummed on the counter with the tips of his fingers. He knew. He could never forget that day. But she’d called every year – wanting to talk to him. He didn’t want to talk. Especially not to her. He couldn’t do that. Those were his memories. He couldn’t share them with her. They were all he had to remember him by.

“You should call her back this year,” he heard from behind him, before he felt his fiancé’s arms around him. He and Erwin had been drawn back together through mutual loneliness and lust. A need to fill the gap someone had left. He did love Erwin. But he wasn’t his first choice. It was the same the other way around. The two of them had mutually decided they were never going to meet anyone better, and with both of their families pressuring them to find the right partner (though it was clear Erwin’s family had been suggesting a woman), they decided it would be the best thing for them to start a relationship. Levi shrugged, lacing his fingers through Erwin’s. “I don’t want to,” he answered simply. “I’ve spoken about it plenty before, I don’t need to go through it again,”

“I know, I know,” the blond replied quietly, kissing his neck softly. “You should probably get ready - don’t want to be late for your first day of work.”

It had taken ages to persuade Levi to leave the flat. He’d done his three years at university, and after that he didn’t have anything else to work for. He didn’t have any goal, or any motivation. Any job he did get didn’t stick for long. Erwin had tried. He’d been there too, he’d seen what had happened – he could understand. Well, he thought he did. There were some things he couldn’t understand, though.

Levi wasn’t excited for work as he turned on the shower. He saw this as a new routine to adapt for, a new income to pay for the bills,  the food and for the wedding he didn’t really want. He was twenty five years old, and he was already ready for his life to be over.

He didn’t look in the mirror as he got out of the shower. He turned his back, and went straight back into the bedroom to get dressed. His violin sat in the corner of the room. Farlan wasn’t used anymore, but Levi kept him out, on the off chance he’d play again. The last time he had played was at the funeral, and every time he tried to pick it up again, he couldn’t stop his hands from shaking.

 

Erwin was still preparing breakfast in the kitchen when he stepped out of the bedroom again. “What are you going to do when you finish work?” he asked, handing Levi his mug and plate.

“Go to the clinic for my appointment with Doctor Zackley,” he recited, glaring his partner in the face. Erwin smiled slightly,

“Good,” he muttered, brushing his hand over Levi’s face, before kissing him. Kissing Erwin was stronger than any of his kisses with Eren were. Eren was soft, inexperienced and nervous, whereas Erwin preferred to be in control of the situation. He pulled apart eventually, sighing, “I need to get ready myself now,” he said, heading for the bathroom. “Have a good day,” he said again, before leaving Levi alone.

He stood at the door, his hands tight on his bag strap. This was what he hated so much about leaving the apartment. He never used to lift – when they were moving in, it kept starting and jolting, and it had panicked him so much he’d banned Erwin from using it, too. He wasn’t going to have another boyfriend fall to his death. However, not using the lift meant he had to take the long way down. That was just as terrifying.

He breathed out, trying to calm himself, and quickly opened the door to start the race down the hallway and into the stairway.

It felt like a chase. Someone behind him, running after him, reaching out, trying to catch him. He was being hunted. Every time he made his way down those stairs, he felt like they were getting closer. One day he was going to be caught. He didn’t dare look behind him to see what it was. He couldn’t look. Yet he knew it was right behind him. If he turned his head even a little bit, he’d see their face. Sometimes he could feel the cold breath on the back of his neck. But when he turned the last corner and the exit of the stairwell came up and he flung himself through that door, his pursuer vanished. The weight on his chest lifted, and he could speed walk out of the building without incident. He wanted to move out as soon as possible, find somewhere else, but he knew it wasn’t the apartment. It was him.

Once he was safe out of the block, he forced himself to turn back and look behind him. He saw him in one of the ground floor windows, leaning over a countertop, face pressed close to the glass. His neck was cracked at an odd angle, his head tilted up. His hair hung down in strips, his skin taunt and pale. His white shirt was stained brown and red, his blue striped tie tattered.

He’d been with Levi for eight years, nearly. He saw him in mirrors behind him, reaching out. He saw him in dark rooms, in empty offices. Eight years he’d been chasing him.

Erwin had said it was the guilt. That it was all in his head, but Levi didn’t buy that. He knew what was going on.

Eren had never left. Not really.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all of you who finished this story! It's my first multichaptered fanfiction, and I'm so pleased with myself that I actually managed to complete it!  
> I hope you all enjoyed the story too, despite it's somewhat traumatic ending ;_;  
> What was your favourite part?? I'm interested to know what part stuck in your minds the most.


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